KANCHANABURI :The Perfect Getaway From Bangkok

Written by Joel


One of Thailand's premier tourist attractions, Kanchanaburi, lies a mere two hours fromrepparttar capital. This proximity means it is well withinrepparttar 134181 time constraints of most people's itineraries and getting there could hardly be easier. Buses leave every half hour from Bangkok's southern bus terminal and deliver you torepparttar 134182 center of this small town in air-conditioned comfort. The lush green scenery and laid-back way of life mean that exploringrepparttar 134183 towns many places of interest is always enjoyable.

The moment we stepped fromrepparttar 134184 bus we are (politely) accosted by a cacophony of cries. "Where you go? Where you go?" We had both been here before and instructed one to drive us to The Jolly Frog, a popular choice with backpackers. Normally, I follow a policy ofrepparttar 134185 olderrepparttar 134186 better in regards to motorcycle taxi drivers (less testosterone and a healthy fear of death). Somehow though, through same kind of oversight we ended up with a youngster covered in tattoos and we were promptly whisked away, with both of us onrepparttar 134187 back of one motorcycle. No one blinked an eye. My pleas for helmets were met with incredulous looks and squeezed between my girlfriend who was hanging onrepparttar 134188 back andrepparttar 134189 sweaty teenager it wasn'trepparttar 134190 comfiest of rides. I'm sure they didn't have insurance either. 50 cents seemed a rather large price to pay a 3k journey and allrepparttar 134191 accompanying danger but I paid up.

We soon found ourselves inrepparttar 134192 restaurant section ofrepparttar 134193 large guesthouse with an extensive menu before us. There are many other guesthouses alongrepparttar 134194 river butrepparttar 134195 food isrepparttar 134196 reason we and many others are here. Locals too dine at The Jolly Frog and this surely is testimony to its good cooking. This guesthouse too boasts a lovely lawn and fine views ofrepparttar 134197 river. After some delicious catfish it was early to bed in a basic but clean room.

At about $4 a night, I thought it a bit steep and it certainly wasn't repparttar 134198 cheapest option. But hell I'm on holiday and I don't mind blowing a bit of cash for a nice double room. Many guesthouses of a similar ilk linerepparttar 134199 river offering a panoramic view ofrepparttar 134200 river andrepparttar 134201 majority are cheap and good value.

The next day, we set of early to get in some serious sightseeing and withrepparttar 134202 minimum of fuss we rentedrepparttar 134203 ubiquitous Honda dream (the horse of Asia) for around $4.50 for 24 hrs. More expense. I pay through gritted teeth trying not to seerepparttar 134204 crisp 100 baht notes leaving my short's pockets and we wobbled of downrepparttar 134205 road to seerepparttar 134206 highlight of our trip.

When Traveling Abroad, Use Your EQ

Written by Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach


What do you do when you don’t knowrepparttar language or customs? That’s when your EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, comes in handy.

On my recent tour to Russia,repparttar 134180 people in large cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg) knew English, but not inrepparttar 134181 small villages (Yaroslavl, Uglich).

I thought I’d pick up Russian quickly, but I didn’t for several reasons: 1.Jet Lag turns your thinking brain (neocortex) to mush 2.You can’t “picture”repparttar 134182 words becauserepparttar 134183 Russian alphabet is Cyrillic; i.e., Catherinerepparttar 134184 Great’s initial is “E” because in Russian, it’s Ecaterina. 3.Russian’s not a “Romance language”. The sounds and cadence aren’t familiar. They have sounds that don’t exist in English. 4.Russian people are courteous and quietly charming, but they’re conscientious workers who stay focused. They’d also rather improve their English than teach you Russian. 5.They’re reserved in public so you don’t hear a lot of words. When I said, “Good morning” in Russian, I’d get back, “Good morning.” Silence.

RELY ON YOUR NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION.

One thing I did was exaggerate my expression (pleading) and gestures (2 fingers for $2), and put some warmth in my eyes. Fear is contagious; so is trust. Their expressions, when revealed, were quite recognizable, i.e., a shrug, breaking eye-contact when they’ve made their last offer.

SCARY BABUSHKA

In museums such asrepparttar 134185 Hermitage orrepparttar 134186 Armory, older women sit in a chair in each room. It’s their job to make sure no one touches anything.

Whenrepparttar 134187 Ugly American (Paul) in our tour group touched a curtain in Peterhof,repparttar 134188 Russian grandmother (babushka) sprang to her feet with a thud, clapped her hands twice, loudly, then advanced toward Paul shaking her finger and barking Russian. We didn’t need to understandrepparttar 134189 words.

INTERPRETATION PLEASE

But what did this mean in this country? Was Paul going to Siberia? How could we find out?

One ofrepparttar 134190 things our mother does is interpret for us. A well-known experiment involves researchers placing a baby on a Plexiglas shield resting across a high table. Whenrepparttar 134191 baby crawls torepparttar 134192 edge ofrepparttar 134193 visual drop, he’s. It feels solid but looks like a precipice. So he looks over to his Mom to find out what he’s supposed to do, which mean finding out how he’s supposed to feel. If she looks happy, he proceeds. If she looks scared, he stops.

So we turned to Leo, our Russian guide, to see how serious this was. Leo was laughing and relaxed. A young man with much EQ, he quickly put his arm aroundrepparttar 134194 Russian women, turning her away and soothing her. How? Babushkas all overrepparttar 134195 world are soft on young men.

CATCHING ON QUICK IS ANOTHER EQ COMPETENCY

– We were warned aboutrepparttar 134196 gypsies – such faces, such gestures. Ann, who thought they were “sweet” and didn’t listen, got pickpocketed. – When you acceptrepparttar 134197 flowersrepparttar 134198 youths give you inrepparttar 134199 villages, it isn’t a gift. They will haunt you with looks until you fork over some money. – You’ll quickly seerepparttar 134200 shopkeepers expect to bargain. They name a price and then pause, expectantly. – How susceptible are you to “beautiful lady”? Vendors everywhere know those words in English. – Who can resist a child? Here’s Katya hustling my sister - http://www.theintrovertzcoach.com/islands4.html at Svir Stroy. – It’s officially illegal for Russians to accept American dollars. Quickly you’ll learn they all do. Just as long as you don’t ask. (It isn’t illegal to give dollars.) – Customs officials worldwide have a crummy job. A smile goes a long way with them.

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