The Trials and Tribulations of Travel in Thailand

OK, so I'm not posting about so many trials and tribulations at the moment. I'm writing to say I'll be back to active blogging. Something about moving around that makes me want to write.

We've been staying in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the north for 2 months! In some ways, times seems to have flown, and in others, it seems like a year ago since we first arrived.

We left today and do not plan on going back, at least, not during this trip. We are on the way to Laos at the northern edge of both countries, very close to China. We cross the Mekong River tomorrow and go thru the formal exit/entry procedures. Then we are hopping on a slow boat down the Mekong to a small town called Luang Prabang. It'll take two days to get there, but we should have beautiful jungle scenery along the way.

And, we'll hook up with Karen (Lefer) once we arrive!

Today we stopped along the way at this magnificent temple, called the "White Temple" because it was starkly white and very glittery in the sunshine. I took some photos I'll post soon.

One of the really cool things about this temple was the murals painted inside. Being relatively new (only a few years old), the murals were only partway done. Some of the pictures painted included Harry Potter riding his broom, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Michael Jackson, Star Wars droids, guns, the twin towers, one being hit, other NY city-type scenes, the guy from Avatar riding the pteradactyl-creature, a rocket, fighter jets, very modern era stuff. Then there was this snake-type creature poised to eat all that technology stuff, with the Buddha residing above it all. Some spiritual meaning there, eh?

Most of the temples, or wats, have murals depicting scenes from the Buddha's life. But, this, well it was just surreal.

I have other stories to tell, but for now just teasers.....
A visit to the Elephant Sanctuary park where we fed and played with elephants,
Our Thai cooking course,
and probably more that I can't think of just now. Later for all that....

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Chiang Mai

I'm already in the year 2012, a little ahead of everyone in the US. Noah and I celebrated on the streets of Chiang Mai, where there were probably thousands of people out eating, shopping, shooting off fireworks dangerously low and close to the crowds, and sending up into the sky balloons representing new year's wishes.

There were booths and booths of street stalls with everything from sushi, pad thai, meats and kebabs, fruit and fruit shakes, fried breads, french fries. Lots of fried things.

I am hoping the pictures tell the story......

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Street food: sausages with meat and rice inside.

Noah stands in front of piles of pad thai.

I think that's fruit on the left and squid on the right, both yellowish in color.

Midnight Massage: We both had an hour massage in the street.

Wish Lanterns: Firing up the fuel source

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lots of little lights, like stars, only much bigger lit the sky. There must have been thousands of these balloon/lanterns go up into the night sky. Eventually, they come down. They were all over the streets later in the night. I wonder how it will look in the day...... People keep things pretty clean here, so I imagine they will disappear soon.

 

Panda Lantern

Tigers....

Visiting a 6-month old tiger.

There is a pretty tourist-y thing you can do outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is visit and pet tigers. Supposedly, these animals are being "saved" by your going and paying a bunch of money to pet them. It pays for their food, housing, medicine, whatever.

I'm not so convinced, after having visited there, that it's that great for the animals. I didn't like the way the handlers treated the tigers, very commanding and wanting them to do what they wanted, leaving little choice for the tigers to live how they wanted. But at least they did not use electric shocks to "train" the tigers, as some trainers do.

I really wanted to go, because how often does one get to pet a tiger? I struggled with the morals of what they do there vs. the desire to pet and be with them. In the end, we decided to go.

But, after having been there, I would not recommend it, as luring as it is.

Having expressed my dismay at the tiger situation, I'm posting some photos we took while there. I have mixed feelings about the entire trip. I am grateful to have been around these graceful and beautiful creatures, to have touched them and shared some time together. And I am saddened that I contributed to the continuation of their way of living.

With a one-month old baby.

Noah petting 1 month old tiger.

Noah with a 6-month toddler.

I still have questions:

Is it "fair" or "right" to have the exhibition of tigers for people to interact with? Is it "fair/right" for the tigers to be subjected to this type of life? Do the tigers have some unconscious agreement to have this type of life? Does anything need to be "done" about the "Tiger Kingdom" tourist place?

I keep coming back to what Byron Katie (and others) have said: Everything is perfect exactly as it is. Even if I am not always happy with the way it is.

Holidays in Thailand

Thailand is Buddhist country, right? Then why are they celebrating Christmas?

We spent Christmas at a guest house in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. Guest houses are different from hotels in that the family lives on the premises and runs the place like a small hotel, typically offering breakfast, coffee and tea and sometimes a restaurant.

We stayed at a place called Nuanpranee (not sure of the meaning) where they had a Christmas tree and fake gifts under it (to look real). But they went further and had a Christmas party for all the guests, most of whom were ex-pats or people traveling over the holidays because they care nothing of Christmas. Perhaps they even wanted to get away from the consumeristic feel of it in their own countries.

Well, we had a party anyway. Noah was really happy because there was a gift exchange, which meant he got a gift. We were instructed to buy a gift that costs over 200 baht (200 baht = ~$6.60). Noah and I looked in the night market and found nice shirts for men, because I saw mostly men at the guest house. I later found out there was about an equal number of men and women.

When the party started, I was very surprised to see that about half of the people were Thai, half foreigners. Food was provided, after which came agonizingly loud karaoke, with almost every Thai man taking a turn. There was actually one very good singer - the local colonel of the police. He knew all the songs with all the proper English intonations.

After a couple of hours of karaoke, during which time I tried talking to people, but just got a headache instead, we had the gift exchange. Everyone would draw a number which corresponded to a present /giver of the present. The giver came up to give the gift to whomever drew the number -- with a photo taken of every exchange. It was quite formal, and very fun!

Noah got a scarf/shawl that is part cashmere, part silk. I got a big fluffy pink stuffed dog and a round bolster-type pillow. They were perfect for a small child -- like the children we met at our next place we stayed, the Eco Resort. They were happy to receive "Pinky", as we started to call the dog, and the pillow. Their mom was very appreciative. (Darn, should have taken a photo of Pinky before passing him on.)

A French man got one of the shirts we gave. A Thai woman who drove a tuk-tuk (will explain this in another post) got the other shirt. The Thai woman and wife of the French man traded the shirt for a huge pink pillow. They were both happy! And the shirts looked really good on the French guy. All around a win-win!

So there's our Christmas story. Oh yes, I ended up singing karaoke with another American woman, both of us being too shy to do it by ourselves. And Noah danced with a bunch of Thai girls who were in the family. They really enjoyed our involvement; and we really enjoyed seeing them have such a great time!

We didn't take photos of the party, but later took these in the street.

This was a huge Christmas tree made of recycled materials. It must have stood 3 (maybe 4?) stories high. You can see in the following photos what it is made of.

Closer.....

Closest. 

 

This magical-looking carriage was part of the display. Here's Noah having a ride....

Christmas time in Singapore

Three Massages in Three Days

Bali --- a beautiful tropical paradise, great snorkeling and scuba diving, land of smiles, AND land of inexpensive massages.

Noah and I ate some bad beef one night. I immediately started feeling a stomach ache and very tired, had to lie down and take a nap. Then felt low energy for a couple of days. Noah had diarrhea for a couple of days.

I thought one of the best things to do to help get pathogen toxins out of the body was to have a massage. So, we both had one poolside at our guest house.

The next day, we went to get Noah's hair cut. As I was sitting waiting for him, the staff put into my hands all the options for massages. I ended up getting a shiatsu massage (thinking of you, Karen!) which was really awesome and just a little bit painful. I awoke the next morning with kidney pain, a sure sign to me that toxins were indeed moving.

The next day, our last in Bali, I went back to the same guy, Made Rudy, to get another shiatsu, while Noah got a leg/feet massage. He was practically falling asleep in the chair. My massage was another awesome experience. I felt fantastic the next day as we headed off to Singapore.

Chillin' in Padangbai, Bali

The jumping off point to Lombok, Padangbai is a sweet place with a pretty mellow vibe. It is off-season right now, which means we are getting a pretty good rate on guest houses all over Bali.

Noah on the veranda of our room.

Our current guest house is designed in the traditional Balinese way, with ornately carved door and window frames and woven bamboo "wallpaper". Most patios are nicely tiled.

View looking out from our veranda. To the right is a small snake house, with two boa constrictors in residence.

The Balinese home consists of an outer wall and inside many separate "buildings", designed with a certain feng shui so that the family temple (most Balinese are Hindu, pray to many gods and have many ceremonies each month), the sleeping area, the bathroom and kitchen are always in the same directional spot (east, west, etc.) relative to the entrance. Between the outer wall and the first building is always about 20 feet. So their living space is set back from the street, even if the outer wall is right at the street (which most are).

Their living areas are fairly open, with only the bedrooms being closed completely by walls. The rest of the house is pretty much "open air". This actually keep things cool, allowing breezes to blow into the spaces. The average high temperature is about 85 and the low about 75, with high humidity.

If I can get some photos of this house/compound, I'll post them.