bull, sweat and beers: the Mekong Cup in Bangkok

Unbelievable but true: it could get hotter! Hotter than in India, during the ultimate frisbee tournament we never got to blog about. This time, we'll tell you all about our second Asian disc experience: 

the sportgrounds at the Thai army station

It was friday, may 24th, and it rained, the monsoon finally had arrived. Klaus and me were standing in front of a shopping mall, waiting for the pouring rain to ease, trying to figure out which street is "soi 13" to get to a hotel for the welcome party. Because hotel bars were the only place allowed to serve or sell alcohol on this public bhuddist holiday. It was a great meet-up, above all we enjoyed hanging out with the Chiang Mai players (we had been to practise there a few times) and drinking REAL beer, ie Belgian beer! Briefly we met EATDISC, the Singaporean team we'd be playing on but they were a bit shy and left early. The excitement of participating at a tourney where we don't know anyone led to interesting talks on this friday night, but the plan to get "some good sleep" failed miserably.

Saturday, finally, playing time, yeeeaaah! But why am I so dog-tired? Ah well, thanks to the noisy fan in our hotel room and the heat, this crazy bitch! We arrived on the fields at 7am, had some fruit for breakfast and sweat running down before we even started the warm up. Gosh, if not moving gets us sweaty so fast, what will happen after the games have started?
Our team arrived and brought a bag full of presents, including an amazing jersey ("Throw here" front print, 'Huck now" on the back) and cleats for Klaus and me. All of them seemed incredibly friendly - and young! The average age was 20, they said. We can add some experience to the team, we said. Still, this combination didn't serve as a winning concept against our first opponent from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but we gave them a good fight. Above all I was glad that Klaus and me had ended up on a spirited and enthusiastic team, full of talented players, only lacking a bit of confidence.

lunch with pink pasta

We also lost the other games on saturday, but to be fair: it was only due to the weather. Especially after lunch I felt like I was fading out, being so exhausted from some lack of sleep and the HEAT. I couldn't play much of the third game, feeling dizzy whenever I turned, thinking: thank god it's cloudy. After the games were done, Klaus and me decided to skip team dinner and get some sleep for the party instead.
Unfortunately, after some good ultimate, a fantastic organization of the tournament and yummy yummy lunch, the party was a disappointment in the true sense of the word!
When we got there just before midnight, the party had been shifted from an Irish pub to the "red light district" in Bangkok, to a bar with a mechanical bull. Sounds fun, I know, that's what I thought, but unfortunately the bull was also ridden by teenage girls wearing hot pants, bras and braces. The woman controlling the bull, the boss, was a Thai person in her thirties, also in a bra and with a huge belly but no underwear (I wish I hadn't found out). If a guy got onto the bull she was trying to move it fast and throw them of (which was funny), and if it was one of her girls (who could have been her daughters) or another woman, she moved the bull slowly so it looked sexual. Above that, the boss tried to convince all female frisbee players to take off their tops while riding the bull, without success, and the Thai women lifted someone's dress sitting on the bull so everybody could see her g-string. It was humiliating for the player and shocking not only to me, but luckily not many of the Asian players had come to the bar. This stupid bar, where ugly old western men hit on half-naked underage girls. I had completely forgotten about this side of Thailand, the north was untouched and rural, but here in Bangkok, I suppose, it was normal. The one other player we knew from the HAT in India, Arjun from Bengalore, was also not having fun, we left together with him, the girl with the g-string, the guy with the bleeding nose (from falling of the bull) and some others. I was sad. No dancing. No chatting. No cheap drinking. Nothing like a frisbee party!

EATDISC in the fantastic ME KONG jerseys

Sunday, bloody sunday, you are so kind to me without a party! Unfortunately the weather wasn't, the sun was shining and all the white people knew what was awaiting them: either sunscreen in the eyes because you're sweating it off in a minute, or... sunburn. Nevertheless, EATDISC was fit and eager to win, so we played very well against "Angelina's Orphans" from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The were a nice team, so we let them win!
Finally, the coffee place next to the fields opened, I got my tired ass in it and as soon as the caffeine reached my brain it worked out a song for my team. It was a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat it" and EATDISC loved it. We sang it about a dozen times and instantly won the next game against a team from Kuala Lumpur. ONLY because of the song... not.
Our next opponent heard it, got scared and refused to play against us. Well, they claimed it was too hot, they hadn't eaten and too many injuries but this was just a lame excuse. A Bangkok team had the same problem as we did - no opponent - so we just played each other for fun. They came in 5th, we ended up on the 9th place.

hanging out after games, just playin

Slowly everyone started getting drunk. Chucking a few beers here, having some vodka and cream poured in my mouth from one and some apple juice and cinnamon by another person, and hey - is this real Malibu?? Some teams played fun games, eg without spriting, or a beer can in one hand, or skipping instead of walking etc., the rest was hanging out on the sideline, literally. Just sitting or laying, drinking, not as an orgy, but like the party we never had the day before. Good songs to dance to, a spontaneous beer race led by a drunk Canadian, and some chats with Thai players later, the sun was setting and Chiang Mai had won the tournament. They had asked Klaus and me to play with them and I felt a pinch of regret, until I saw some EATDISC players doing the landshark. Oh yeah! They had warmed up a lot, we laughed a lot together, we will see them again a lot!

during the national anthem, actually it was our award ceremony

Happy, hungry and still quite tipsy we went downtown with the Chiang Mai players to have dinner and some game analysis. Many hugs and goodbyes later Klaus and me shambled from the taxi into our hotel room, tired, sunburned and very very happy.

Some of the best moments of the Mekong Cup were:
- to see how awesome some of the young guys from EATDISC were playing, and how confident the girls were
- how easily they accepted Klaus and me on the team
- how the soft grass made it impossible not to lay out, even for me
- the food served at the tournament was freshly made and half of it had no meat or seafood
- meeting players from all over South East Asia (and America)
- when everyone stopped warming up and froze at 8am for the national anthem and flag hoisting

EATDISC: everyone is an animal

I want to finish this report, finally, by saying a huge thanks to EATDISC for being such a spirited team, and to the organizers of the Mekong Cup, Piet and his wife, for doing a great job. I wanna be back next year!

water supply. can you drink more than you sweat?

by Lia


PS: Dear readers, do you think my blog posts are too long? Be honest, though it might not change a lot...

up and around

Yesterday morning
Peep. Peep. Peep.
The alarm! It's 5.50am, on a very important day. At 7am we have an interview at the US ambassy to get our visa. Yes, that's right. An interview. Because we don't have a return flight and they fear we'd stay in the country. Ha! I'm fully awake quickly, filled with excitement, but with the fearful one. What if...?
It's a long queue and one short terrifying moment when they first reject Klaus because his photo doesn't have the right size, and then me because mine is older than 6 months (ie 7 months). Not only because of all the annoyances before, including having to pay for that appointment, but because all kinds of bureaucracy suck!

Soundtrack: Die Aerzte: Das sind Dinge...

I feel the tears coming to my eyes, leave the building, get a new picture where I look like I was beaten up, and queue up again. Klaus, too. This time they don't find anything else, let us in... DONE!
"Pick up your passport on Tuesday."
Are you cereal??

the night before
We have the top seats in the bus, going from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok. Second floor, in the front, no seat belts, top starting positions right through the window in case we crash. The TV is running on full volume, I'm afraid my ears will burst. Thai people don't mind loud things, our German hosts even had the theory that either they have a huge tolerance or are a little deaf. We ask them to turn the TV down, they turn it off.
I watch the massive lanes filled up with cars as it's slowly getting dark, feeling an excitement coming up. The good one, accompanied by potential adventures, and just dreaming of them makes me happy.

Neil Young - Natural Beauty

The moment we get out the bus we're knocked down by the heavy heat and surround by eager taxi drivers. Nothing new, and so we make our way back to our Thai host Petch in the center of Bangkok. We can hear his swimming pool calling! It's a little bit like coming home, and the pizza we allow ourselves to eat supports that impression.

Gotye - Better than before

last night
Since Petch is a super-great host, he takes us out to the coolest restaurant in town, not in the guidebook. It's a Thai place full of Thai people and good food. Someone comes in and we say:
"Hey, are you an ultimate frisbee player?"
He is indeed. Also, he has some of our players from the Singapore team couchsurfing with him, and he wanted to show him the best restaurant in town. Haha. Conincidence, your name is "war ja klar!"

Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle

We chat a little with our teammates for the weekend, and then head off with Petch to do karaoke. There's a nice place in the MBK shopping center, where people could see us through glass windows, but hopefully didn't hear us. I don't know what you think, but we loved it!

Tattoo Colour - Kha Mhoo

The rain had stopped when we headed home at around midnight, the streets were lonely and wet, the temperatures bearable. We fell on the couch and talked for several hours about German and Thai culture, our travel plans and why getting visas sucks.

Tomorrow
We will get up early, try to catch the right bus to the fields, trying to remember all the names of our Singaporean teammates and play our first game against the team from Ho Chin Min City. You can guess how we feel... Super excited. The kind where you wish it was already tomorrow.

Ratatat - Beat 1

...and because I am so great, I already made the playlist




Enjoy!
PS: Miss you all!

Of Monsters And Men - Love love love

by Lia

Provinz auf Rädern

Mae Hong Son 7.- 10. Mai.

Die Tour nach Mae Hong Son, ans nord-westliche Ende von Thailand, war ein echt geiles Ding. Mit einer 125er bin ich alleine über Weltklasse Strassen gebrettert. So schraubte ich mich an 4 Tagen knapp 300km über Bergkämme hinweg und durchquere Täler und rausche an Wasserfällen und Höhlensystemen vorbei.

Die Fahrt ist ein Genuss und die Geschwindigkeit vergesse ich dabei völlig. Viel Zeit also um meine Blicke schweifen zu lassen. Kaum auszumalen aber kein Verkehr hindert mich daran, die Straßen sind sehr gut und völlig leer!

Ich erkunde die Grenzregion zu Burma, in dem ich bis ganz ans Ende von Thailand fahre. Wenige, weit abgeschiedene Dörfer gibts zu sehen. Mit burmesischen Einfluss und ohne Touristen.

In Mae Hong Son feier ich Männertag mit einer jungen Koreanerin dir erstaunlicherweise Bier trinken liebt und sich solidarisch mit mir zeigt.

Da es hier die größten Höhlen Thailands gibt, mache ich mich Tag drauf auf 2 davon auszukundschaften.
Die erste war nur über einen aberwitzigen steilen Weg durch den Wald zu erreichen, den der Scooter allerdings bravourös gemeistert hat. Ohne ihn wäre ich keinesfalls so tief ans Ende des Tals vorgedrungen, wo der kleine Bach im Berg verschwindet und somit das längste Höhlensystem Thailands seinen Anfang findet. Mit einer Beschreibung aus dem Internet  klettere ich vorsichtig mit Flip Flops die ersten Meter hinein bis mich die Dunkelheit einholt. Umgeben von Stalagmiten und Stalaktiten freue ich mir einen Ast ab das Abenteuer gewagt zu haben. Ganz alleine und umsonst, denn ohne Guide, fühle ich mich kurz wie der Entdecker der Höhle und stehe für ein paar Minuten in der kühle. 

Einmal in der Nähe besuche ich außerdem die Cave Lodge mit direkten Anschluss an eine weitere, riesige Höhle(Lod Cave) die man mit Guide per Bamboo Boot durchfahren kann und zusätzlich per Fuss weit in die Höhle eintaucht. Auch hier geizt niemand mit bekannten Tropfsteinen und hat doch jemand tatsächlich vor 3000 Jahren Särge in die Höhlen gelegt und Tiere an die Wände gemalt.

By Klaus

Stories from Thai and Pai

First of all I gotta say: all the good things we heard about Thailand are true. Friendly people, sunny climate, beautiful landscapes and cheap prices. But the food... Well, maybe this is the vegetarian speaking here but I'm really disappointed. Not only that usually there's not one veggie option on the menu, but also because I thought it's more diverse. Again, the list of pork, chicken and seafood is usually very long, but I miss pasta and Indian food. I should have learned long ago what the Thai word for 'vegetarian' means, because many people here don't speak english. Have I become an ignorant traveler?

Sometimes it's difficult, indeed, to keep track of the country and culture you're in. I thought the months in Nepal and India were a long time, and now we've been in Thailand for 3 weeks already and I'm still struggling to arrive. Despite that, Klaus and me had tons of fun in the north of the country so far.

We rented a moped and drove 150km (ie 5hrs) to Pai, a small touristy town in the middle of beautiful green hills. It wasn't much cooler there but we went into waterfalls almost every day. Life is fantastic when you're sliding down a waterfall or relaxing in the pond above it...
While I stayed at a permaculture farm for 3 days, Klaus went further down the road, exploring the Mae Hong Son region (more about that tour in the next post). It was incredible staying at Tacomepai Farm because of it's fantastic design (bamboo!) and it's cool people. It's been too long since I hang out at a campfire and discussed about the sense of money and the influence of economics on politics and agriculture. I can't emphasise enough the importance of inspiring people, and I wish there was a better way of sharing our great thoughts with the dear reader then just saying: think twice. No matter about what, think twice. But maybe, for a more specific input, you should watch this! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvrww8iMl-A&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

Now Klaus and me are back in Chiang Mai,  couchsurfing with the awesome Germans Franzi and Rob, who are studying here. If it wasn't for the mean ants around and in the house, we would probably stay forever. Free wifi and good coffee at the university,  ultimate frisbee almost every day and cool hang out's with our friends' friends. Good times!

by Lia

Umsonst und draussen

Dreieinhalb Stunden Flug und die Welt sieht ganz anders aus. Die Gegensätze gegenüber Nepal sind nicht zu fassen.

Die Hitze hier ganz ist eine andere und wir haben am ersten Tag schwer zu kämpfen. Folgerichtig begeben wir uns mit Bus Nr. 15 auf den Weg zum Siam Square und streifen durch die Raumschiffe der Konsumwelt, die perfekte Bedingungen für unsere Spezies bereithalten.

Bangkok glänzt an diesem Ort mit allem, was Mensch sich so von der Zukunft verspricht.
Wir staunen und verfallen in untypisches Konsumverhalten. Haben wir doch gerade noch hart um Centbeträge verhandelt, vergessen wir hier mit Leichtigkeit unseren eisernen Sparwillen. Das Resultat sind Einkäufe in astronomischen Höhen und damit eng verbunden ein neues Smartphone, Mini-Lautsprecher ,1l Kontaktlinsenflüssigkeit, SD Karten und ein Speicherstick.
Nun sind wir gerüstet für das moderne Asien mit Free-Wifi an allen Orten und haben obendrein einige Schnäppchen gemacht oder uns auf diese primitive materielle Art einfach nur glücklich gemacht.

Den zweiten Tag konnten wir wesentlich entspannter und ausgeruhter angehen, lag unser Hostel diesmal nicht direkt gegenüber eines Nachtclubs im berüchtigten Touri-Viertel Kao San. Mutig haben wir uns zu fuss auf den Weg zum Grand Palace der königlichen Thailändischen Familie gemacht. Nur um dann vor Ort wieder kehrt zu machen. Menschenmassen, der hohe Eintritt und Lias Freizügigkeit waren die entscheidenden Faktoren. Obwohl Lia sich extra  mit einem blickdichten Schal um die Schultern vorbereitet hatte. Wenig motiviert einen weiteren Versuch an diesem Tag zu starten, sind irgendwie auch glücklich mit dem Umstand in den Bus Nr. 15 gestiegen der uns zurück zum Hostel bringt.

Für den gleichen Tag hatten wir es geschafft eine Schlafgelegenheit bei einem Couchsurfer zu organisieren, also konnten wir uns schon früher mit Petch, unserem Gastgeber, treffen. Perfekt gelegen an der Buslinie 15 und einen Steinwurf entfernt von Siam Square, Patong Night Market und der grössten Grünanlage Bangkoks. Verheissungsvoll! Ohne Erwartungen aber gespannt auf die Person treffen wir wie verabredet an der Skytrain Station ein. Petch wartet bereits auf uns und wir heißen uns Willkommen.

Was er uns dann als sein Heim präsentiert verschlägt uns den Atem. Riesige Appartement Hochhäuser Schrauben sich rechts und links in den Himmel, seines mittendrin. Verschwitzt und bepackt mit unseren Rucksäcken und Taschen durchschreiten die grosse Eingangshalle, vorbei am Portier, Petch immer dicht auf den Versen. Die Zugangskarte zieht er durch einen Schlitz am Fahrstuhl und tippt dazu ein Code ins Tastefeld. Gespannt darauf zu anfahren in welchen Höhen er wohl wohnt drückt er die 10.
Der Fahrstuhl setzt sich in Bewegung und offenbart uns nur wenige Sekunden später den hauseigenen Pool im 7ten Stockwerk, der sich wie ein Innenhof vor uns erstreckt.
Ungläubig fragen wir ihn ob man darin  baden darf. Selbstverständlich kann man, was uns für die folgenden 3 Tage ein entspannter Quell der Abwechslung sein wird. Früh, Mittags oder Nachts, ganz egal!

Mit Petch sind wir noch am gleichen Tag nach Chinatown und haben in den bekannten Strassenküchen Scampis und Krabben nach Thai Art gegessen. Super Scharf also...

Am Tag darauf hatten wir einen erneuten Versuch zur Tempelbesichtigen unternommen. Wat Pho mit dem größten liegenden Buddha und jeder Menge Stubas. Gut und günstig und bequem per Buslinie 15 zu erreichen.

Zeit ist kurz und der Monsun kommt näher, somit zieht die Karawane weiter nach Chiang Mai. Ganz im Norden Thailands genießen wir hier kühleres Wetter, weniger Stadt, günstigere Preise und entgehen so den krebstoten Strandurlaubern aus dem Süden. Auch hier wieder das Privileg bei sehr netten und hilfsbereiten Couchsurfen zu pennen. Diesmal mit Franzi und Rob aus Cottbus, die hier ein Jahr studieren und Thai lernen.

By Klaus