Chinese New Year's in Thai Meaung, Thailand

      Friday, February 15, 2013, and we were two weeks into our volunteering experience in Thai Meaung, Thailand.  It was the day of the Chinese New Year's celebratory parade and our hosts Nett and Anders were going to act as tour guides for the event, what fun!

      For us all the action started building up in the afternoon of the 15th, but I expect for the locals it started a little while earlier.  At least I'm guessing that these turtle confectionaries didn't just appear on their own! 

Turtle Confectionary

  The turtles were quite amazing, they came in varying sizes and complexities, big ones, small ones, big ones with small ones, simpler decorations and more complex ones including dragon motifs and peacock feathers.  I was told that these were meant as offerings for the Gods, and the better your offering the more they would favour you.
   
        Just after noon the more active preparations, from a spectator's perspective, began.  People appeared, milling about in the square with even more in the temple.  Incense was set alight, drumming began, the occasional firecracker was set off, and children with flags and dragon costumes appeared.  Things became quite noisy, crowded, and hot.

Small palanquins appeared,

People palanquins

ranging in size from 5 to 8 ft, approximately.  These were of two types, one which consisted of a chair, presumably for a person to sit on, and another which resembled small temples.  These, I was told, were for the statues of the Gods which would soon be removed from the temples, embued with their God's presence.

     Inside the temple, other preparations were proceeding. I could not see much other than a lot of smoke and people moving about, but, since the idea was for those participating to become possessed by the various Gods represented in the temple I am assuming that this is what was happening and the increasing noise and activity level indicated progress in this.

         The noise and activity level inside the temple continued to increase until, somewhere around 1:30, a path was cleared in front of the temple doors

Clearing a path

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and God statues began to appear.  These were quickly placed in their palanquins, ready for transport.

Placing a statue

Following upon the heels of the statues were the possessed individuals.  Their appearance was rather more showy, with the individuals gyrating around to the music of the drums, and the spectators being careful to avoid looking them in the eye.  The possessed individuals made their way over to what I will call the piercing table, 

The piercing table

upon which was a selection of metal rods ranging from perhaps 3 to 5 ft in length, and about 1/2" in diameter.  Each possessed individual chose a rod, or two, which was then slowly slid into their cheek side on one side of their face, and then out the cheek on the other side.

A pierced individual

         And now it was time for the parade itself.   Palanquins, God statues, carriers, possessed individuals, drummers, spectators, we all set off towards the main street in town.  Being careful, of course, to avoid the rods sticking out of the sides of the possessed individuals heads
 
       Once we reached the main street, the crowd dispersed somewhat, with the main participants(these being the palanquins, the carriers, and the possessed individuals) taking center stage and the spectators (including myself and my hosts) falling back.  We retreated to the shop front of my host's parents, where they, like so many other shopowners, had set out a table of offerings for the Gods. 

For the Gods

Setting out firecrackers

Many shop owners had also set out firecrackers, which would eventually be taken by the parade participants, lit, and then tossed under the feet of the palanquin carriers.  













   



We waited and waited, and then, there they were!  The parade was coming our way!

First to arrive were the enclosed statues and their carriers,

accompanied by a man who would stop and bless the shop owners.  

This was relatively quiet. What followed, however, was a bit noisier, as this was where the possessed individuals again made an appearance, this time to the accompaniement of the noise and smoke of firecrackers, those very same firecrackers set up earlier by the shop owners.  These were tossed under the

feet of the palanquin carriers and those accompanying them creating a lot of smoke, movement, and, well, burn marks on the participants' legs and clothing....  


    







And then, finally, after lots of smoke, banging, and drumming, the parade was done, at least for us.  It continued down the road, of course, and then eventually made its way back to the temple.  After about two hours of excitement and heat, however, my son and I were done, happy to have experienced something completely new in this land of smiles. 

Airports

So, I have decided to do a post on a very important, but rarely discussed, at least in the travel books that I've read, topic - airports.  As any of you who have travelled with younger children know, or any with special needs, these are incredibly important, and yet, we rarely talk about them.  Perhaps because coming from North America we just assume that the international waiting lounges, where we sometimes have to wait for a considerable amount of time, will have all those things we have come to expect, like food and seats.  Hmmmmm.......   Well, having just returned from India I can assure you that this is not always the case, at least not with the food issue.  And I've been through enough international airport lounges that I have developed some definite preferences, preferences which, all other things being equal, do affect my chosen flight routing.  So.... I thought I would share.  Please do take note that a lot of this is dredged up from my memory, which is getting foggy with age (ha, ha!, I hope not!, not yet!), but definitely with the passage of time since my visit to wherever, and certainly will be clouded by whatever state I was in at the time, but, ah well, reporting is always somewhat biased!  So here goes.....

Calgary, Alberta, Canada  

Ah..... my home town.  Land of hay bales and cowboys, at least if you come during Stampede.  Please do not be too shocked if you arrive during Stampede (which is in the beginning of July), we really, really, do not always wander around dressed like cowboys from the wild west, and our standard public art and decorations do not consist of hay bales and windows painted with cowboy and rodeo motifs.  It is kind of fun to do for a week though!  Anyways, our airports are also the land of friendly people, year round.  If you ever need help here, just ask the people in the white cowboy hats, that's their job.  I think they might even be volunteers (as in, they aren't paid, they just do this because they feel it's worthwhile), but even so they do know what they are doing.  I have never had to ask them anything, since this is my home airport and I know it fairly well, but they are there.

Now the serious stuff, facilities.  As this is my home airport, I may get some of the facilities in the domestic and international areas confused, I have travelled through both.  Certainly in the domestic areas there are lots of places to get food and drink, even after passing through security.  I think.  There are also lots of restaurants before security, the sit down type and the food court type.  I do not recall ever having an issue with getting food at this airport, and in fact I prefer to try to schedule departures around 7:00 a.m. as this allows me to have a nice breakfast at the airport and avoid dirtying up any dishes at home just before I leave.  The seating areas are also moderately comfortable, and certainly clean.  Plenty of bathrooms, plenty of snacks available as well.  Oh, and if you're coming into Calgary, I love the art by the baggage carousels, it makes me smile every time :) 

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Aquarium in International Layovers at Vancouver, Canada

I like the totem pole they used to have at the exit.  Very nice, and it completely distracted my son from being upset when we passed through there when he was 2.  I haven't actually stopped in Vancouver since that time, so I don't know if it's still there, but I hope so.  I have come to appreciate art in airports, it really makes a difference to my experience.

Now, the international layover area, wow.  We went through there on the way to Thailand this year, and I would have to say it was my favourite.  Not nearly as extensive for shopping as many other places, in fact, I really don't recall any shopping at all, which could either mean it was nonexistant or that I simply wasn't interested, but it was comfortable.  There's a huge aquarium with a reef and associated creatures like starfish, and big comfortable chairs, and a selection of food.  And it was clean.  I don't know if they had wi-fi.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

It's been a while since I've been through this airport (I try to get out of Canada as quickly as possible, with the taxes we pay on airfare it's almost always cheaper the faster we get out of this country, so sad), and I don't remember much except being sent on a running goose chase by Air Canada when my flight from Calgary was 2 hours late, causing myself and another man to miss our connection to Boston, and so Air Canada had the two of us running, literally, between terminals to try to catch various other flights.  They eventually conceded we would have to stay the night in Toronto, after about 3 hours of running back and forth.  Needless to say I wasn't paying very close attention to facilities there....

Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

This is a great airport, especially for kids.  They have a train system which my son loved to play on, we could ride it all over the airport for hours if we needed to.  They have a food court with a wide selection of foods, from snacks to actual meals.  Lots of large windows to look out of, and they decorate the place for holidays.  A few stores for purchases, and I'm not sure about wi-fi, we were usually riding the trains.  It can be a bit confusing to get around in, so I wouldn't put this as a tight connection if you are unfamiliar with it, although there are people to give directions and help out.  

Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

I haven't been here for a few years either, but for a while I was going through moderately frequently and what I recalled towards the end was that if at all possible I would make my connections somewhere else.  My recollections were of a place that was dirty (by North American standards), the seats were unimaginately arranged and falling apart, and there was a parsity of food availability (by North American standards).  It definitely wasn't a place I would choose to spend any more time than necessary in.

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.

If I'm not getting Dallas confused with Miami, this airport had a fantastic entertainment centre for kids - an elevated train system! I think this might have been even better in my son's eyes than the one in Seattle, although in Seattle there was the added advantage that there are several lines, so one can move from line to line, which is just soooooooo much fun.  The train system in Dallas however, is not only elevated and outside, but also goes in a loop, so, you know, that might make up for there only being one.  Anyways, when we passed through here my son was 12 and still thrilled to ride the transport system around, so we did.  After we rode the train, we found a window to watch the train at.  Can anyone tell my son likes trains?

Oh yes, it was at this airport that we were entertained by watching the airport workers work on our plane.  Something was leaking, at least, there was fluid coming out of the train, and it didn't seem to impress the airport personnel.  Various different airport personnel climbed up the ladder to take a look, fiddled with things up by the leaking fluid, and eventually some big guy came and hit the plane, the leaking stopped, and all, apparently, was well.  We didn't crash so I guess that did it.  Not terribly reassuring that the method of fixing something on this vessel that is going to take me way up into the air is the same that I might use if I'm frustrated with my washing machine, but the solution did hold for the duration of our flight.  I guess it's somewhat like the time the pilot came onto the speaker while we were sitting on the runway to inform us that the plane was having some technical difficulties so he was going to shut it down, just like we do with our computers, and then start it up again and see if that would work, so we were not to be concerned when the lights went off.  And then that's what he did.  And apparently that fixed everything, since we then proceeded to the runway and I, for one, tried not to think about how we had gotten this vehicle started.

Anyways, as we were distracted by the transportation system and the plane issues, we didn't have opportunity to notice other things like food, shopping, or wi-fi.  I didn't notice a lack though....

Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

 

The train system at Miami, I think....

First off, the view of the everglades we had coming in here was amazing.  It was enough to put that location on our "I want to go there" list.  The airport itself, I don't remember much, except I'm pretty sure they also had an elevated transportation system, much to my son's delight.  I believe this was the one that didn't do a loop, but it was pretty cool all the same, at least in my son's eyes! 

For layovers, Miami had the very nice character of an attached airport hotel, yeah!  I don't recall it as being overly noisy, although I think there was a bit of a walk through the airport to get there.

Liberia, Costa Rica

 

Flying into Liberia, Costa Rica

When we went through in 2012 this was a small airport, and brand new.  I think they had just opened the renovated facility, so not everything was up and going.  There was a huge lineup to get through when we came off the plane but the place was spotlessly clean, and the people friendly.

London, Heathrow

Ha, ha, I went through here once six years ago on the way to Rome.  What do I remember?  A HUGE lineup, likely to get my bags, since I was flying different carriers.  And trying desperately to stay awake, since my flight had been an overnight one.  Oh, and some really nice sunglasses that I saw, implying they had places to shop.  And they had places to eat.  

Incheon airport, Seoul, South Korea

Incheon airport in January

Talk about shopping!  This place is built to shop.  It's also very clean.  And very huge, as in, spread out.  Not so much that they need buses to move you around though, which is very nice.  Buses are a nuisance in that you have to find the correct one, they provide no entertainment for the children, and they're usually crowded which makes managing tired, cranky children difficult.  There was food, although few, if any, of what we would consider to be a sit down restaurant in North America.  But the places they had did serve real food, they did have seats and tables at the restaurants, and it was good food, although generally of the Asian variety which is important to know if you're travelling with a child.  But for those who don't want a meal, or who are wanting something more familiar, there were also plentiful snack kiosks with buns and muffins and such.  The gate waiting areas were a little small for the volume of people that pass through here, but it was workable, and it was acceptably comfortable, with sufficient space between seating rows for kids to play around in.  A very nice feature of this airport is the availability of day trips of various lengths with which transiting passengers can use to occupy themselves with between flights.  Excursion lengths varied from just a couple of hours to all day, and you can sign up for them after you arrive.  I went on a half day trip my first time through here and it was a very pleasant way to spend my time between flights.  I didn't even need a Visa.  Just do remember if you are coming through from somewhere warm, like Thailand, that Seoul does get a winter, so bring your jacket!  I like going through Seoul, I find it easy and relaxing (as much as such a thing can be!).

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Our table at Ho Chi Minh airport

 We spent about 8 hours here on a layover in 2010, and I have fairly nice recollections of it.  I think our departure flight was leaving quite late, so it was fairly quiet at the end.  My son and I managed to find some nice big plush chairs to sit in, with a table in between, on an upper level overlooking the main area.  there was a food place with some standard fare, and we just played UNO for hours on end.  For those with younger children, I didn't notice any play facilities for these. 

Bangkok, Thailand

Okay, I think these guys deliberately plan it so people have to sleep here.  All of our flights through here had ridiculous arrival times, like 12:00 a.m., and connecting departure times of 8:00 a.m. or so.  And we transited through here 3 times!  And judging by the number of people sleeping on the seats around the airport, we were not a terribly unusual case.  Thankfully the airport does recognize this and although the food availability in the non-secured areas (which you end up in after you collect your bags, if your bags aren't being sent all the way through) is reduced after 11:00 p.m., there is still food available.  And there's a wide range of types of food, in case your child really, really needs something westernish.  And they have a Starbucks for any adults craving home.  We didn't use it, but there is an airport hotel available, they even have hourly rates, and you don't need to leave the airport.  But.... it's expensive, or at least more expensive than not using it, and the airport's clean, and although the seats are not of the comfy type, they're workable as a temporary bed.  Which brings up another characteristic of this airport in the pre-check-in areas, there is definitely a lack of seating.  So by the third time through we snagged a good set of sleeping seats before I set off to get us some snacks. But at least there is food, even at stupid hours of the day (like 3:00 a.m.) - tired, cranky, and hungry children are not fun, especially if there's also a tired, cranky, hungry parent as well.  As for entertainment for the kids, well, no play areas, no trains, but, they did have need inclined moving sidewalks to take people between the levels.... This is all in the non-secured areas, before you check in.

After check in, for international flights, it gets a little fancier.  There are shops, and restaurants, and more places to sit. I think it was in here that we had a great meal in a sports bar, which allows children....

Bangkok Airport, Entry to International Gates

Phuket, Thailand

We went through the domestic terminal here as we were coming from Bangkok, and it was insane!  This is a small airport and we arrived at the same time as a flight from Russia.  I don't recall any problems when we were leaving though. 

Shanghai, China

Oh dear.  This was one of the worst airports to spend time in.  They did have food, but not much, and it was extremely expensive.  They claimed to have wi-fi, but I couldn't get it to work, nor could anyone around me.  And I don't think I would use their phone charging plug-ins either, the ones I saw were kind of scary looking.  The seating was sparse and I do believe there were tears in the seats.  The announcements are not in English, which, really, one can hardly expect, except..... a lot of other Asian airports have English announcements...  It's manageable of course, but I know from past experience that if a person's travelling with children, especially of the younger variety, little things like not being able to understand if your flight information has changed can really make a difference.  Oh, right, and I think it was here that they were constantly changing gates on people....  Even by myself given a choice I'd connect through somewhere else, and Seoul is close by and so much nicer....

India

Hmmmmmmm...... what can I say about the facilities in India?  Well, first off, make sure you have food with you.  Especially when doing domestic flights.  The international area leaving New Delhi is fine, there's food, including western, at a reasonable price, as well as shopping.  But otherwise... well, food is definitely an issue.  First, there is no such thing as non-spicy food in India.  Non spicy to the people who live in India is quite spicy for your typical Canadian, and completely intolerable for at least my child, oh dear.  So...  even if you do find food in the airport, it's likely to be intolerable for your child.  The most food supplied domestic area in India we were at was in New Delhi, where we even found a Kentucky Fried Chicken, much to the delight of my child.  We ordered chicken nuggets, but, hm, they were spicy.  He could eat them, but barely.  Otherwise...

We also went through airports in Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Mumbai, at each of these there was a definite lack of any food, let alone an actual meal.  I think there might have been no food period in Jodhpur.  So bring your own.  And, to make it worse, the airlines we travelled on, these being Jet and IndiGo, do not serve anything on their flights unless you pay for it.  No snacks, no water, nothing, even if the flights are several hours long (as in, between Bangkok and New Delhi).  We had our emergency raisins with us, so we were okay, but I think you may have even needed to have cash, and pretty close to exact change, and it needed to be in Indian currency, if you got caught and needed to buy food.  There are no facilities for kids' entertainment in these airports, and the seating is inadequate.  Although if you hunt around you might be able to find some things, in the bigger airports, like Mumbai, I think this was where I managed to find some reclined bench type seats, but don't count on it.  Definitely I had no luck finding food.

Also, do not plan on staying at these airports for any length of time.  Not that one would want to anyways, but, I also heard there is a time limit on how long travellers are permitted to stay at the airports.  There certainly is a limit on how early you are allowed to check in, meaning, you aren't allowed in the airport until you are within the check-in window.  Security checks your flight tickets at the door.

And... if you are transferring from New Delhi to a domestic flight it can be a bit confusing.  And if you try to ask an airport person, hm, well, it's up to chance as to what's going to happen.... we found out we were in the wrong place because the security person wouldn't let us through.  He didn't help us, of course, or call someone to help us, he simply stood there with his arms crossed and kept telling us we couldn't go through, we were in the wrong place.  I then asked three different airport personnel where to go, and got three different answers.  Thankfully we had a lot of time.... especially since it turns out we had to leave the airport and take a bus to another airport.  Very confusing.  But at least the announcements and signs are in English, and the airport personnel do also speak English.

And one last thing to be aware of, which I assume is done in India because of the gender segregation but which could cause some issues for North American families especially if it's only the mother travelling with the kids, in India the females have a separate security check-through line.  Which means male children travelling only with their mother are separated from their parent and have to go through the security check (where they pat them down and run the scanner over them), with their boarding pass, on their own.  The female line goes through a curtained off cubby so there will also be a period of time when the child can not see the parent and the parent can not see the child.  I don't know if there is some age under which they allow the child to go with the mother, for reference my son was 13 but looks 10, if a person's being generous.  I didn't see any other solo females with young male children to be able to increase my knowledge of this situation.  

Siem Reap, Cambodia

This was a cute little airport.  My first visit here was also the first time I saw security personnel openly carrying machine guns, which was somewhat disconcerting that first time.  There's a really nice elephant statue

inside the entry way to this airport, and when I went the Visa line was huge.  The bathrooms were moderately clean.  There might not have been much in the way of food there, but I'm not sure as I was never connecting through.  This is, or was, (last time I was there was in 2010 and the country was doing huge development in the Siem Reap area at that time so it might have changed), an airport where one needs to disembark onto the runway,

even from international flights.  And they didn't like people stopping to look around, although lots did, because it was quite pretty.   

Hanoi, Vietnam

I was through here twice, but I couldn't say anything about it except that it didn't stick out in my mind as being lacking in anything, and I went through with a 10 year old, so I likely would have noticed if there was anything terribly important that was in very short supply.  

Summary

So.... my summary of my experiences....  for connections I like Vancouver, Seattle, and Seoul.  Calgary's probably pretty decent too.  Dallas Fort Worth was fun because of the train, it was also easy to figure out.  Bangkok was quite doable for layovers, I was just always tired because we were always hitting it in the middle of the night.  Given the choice I would avoid Shanghai, and Los Angeles, and if you're having to do domestic flights in India, be prepared. 

Happy travelling!