Leaving the North

We have spent all of our trip thus far in the North of Thailand. We started in Chiang Mai, a very busy city. Using Chiang Mai as our hub, we have traveled to many different places: Chiang Dao, Chiang Ria, Tha Ton, Mae Salong, Mae Hong Son, and now Nan, not to mention a few more.

Tomorrow we will spend the day on a paid tour (the first we've taken) to see the local culture. We will see several crafts: knife making, silversmithing, weaving, and we will visit the mountains and waterfalls. It will be our last full day in the North. Directly across the street from our hotel there is a night market. For the next three nights there will also be another biannual market (that means it only happens twice a year). We will visit that tomorrow night.

The next day we will take a 3 hour bus ride and then catch an overnight train to Bangkok. We will then travel down to the beaches. They are a lot like the Hawaiian Islands. We hope to find an island we like and rent a furnished house for most of the remainder of our trip.

We met a couple who are dive instructors on Ko Tao. They rent a furnished house for $333.00 (U.S.) per month. That sounds awfully nice. I do miss you all though, and the busy time we all have together. I look forward to having some winter with you.

Celebrities

The Thai people are very, very friendly and happy. They are always smiling. Needless to say, we stick out as foreigners. They call non-asian people "farangs" (pronounced fa-wrong). Traveling with two small farang children, you would think we were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The people all want to talk to us, touch them, kiss them, hug them, pinch their cheeks, etc.

Both Phoebe and Ty tend to be a little shy, so it's not always a good thing that they are so popular. Phoebe's dealing with it okay, but Ty doesn't like it. I've had to talk to him about being polite and having good manners. Today he said, "They just bother me." I can see why. He's virtually NEVER ignored. It's overwhelming for a shy boy.

Transportation

We have engaged in many different forms of transportation to date:
1. rental car
2. airplane
3. taxi van
4. tuk-tuk
5. songthaew
6. ordinary bus
7. "cutie songthaew" (Ty's name)
8. rented bikes with child seats
9. pedicab ("cabin bike", also Ty's name)
10. motorbikes (I have a couple of good stories)
11. motorcycle taxis (yikes)
12. 2nd class bus
13. hired a car and driver for a short trip
14. hired the back of a truch for the short trip back
15. on foot, on foot, on foot
16. Can I count the elephant?

The roads are chaotic and we have been surprised that we haven't seen any accidents. Until today, that is. We were on the ordinary bus to Nan when it slowed down and I looked out the window to see a man with a very bloody head leaned up against a motorcycle. Yuck. I keep thinking about him and I hope he's okay. We saw an ambulance headed his way.

Hardly anyone wears helmets. Many times, if someone is wearing a helmet, it's not buckled. Most people here do not own cars, but almost everyone has a motorbike (as they call them).

More Birthdays

Hello, and Happy Birthday to the following kids: J.H., A.S., and N.L. J.H. and A.S., your birthdays are on our 14th wedding anniversary (November 24th). I missed home more than ever this weekend. I really love the Thanksgiving break (not to mention the food). We had no hint of home here. Just fellow American travelers who were talking about Thanksgiving. I spent the whole weekend thinking, "Okay, it's 8:00pm here, now they are all sitting on the couch watching football." I did that about every 3 hours or so.

Before I continue on with my birthday story for the three birthday kids mentioned above, I need to correct a mistake (none of you corrected me). It never was L.R.'s birthday (his is in January when I return), and I missed T.F.'s birthday, so this story goes out to him, too.


Remember that we went to this school in honor of Malee's birthday. She paid for the food, including birthday cake and ice cream. These kids sat for nearly a half hour waiting to eat. They talked quietly among themselves and were patient.

When we arrived, they were still in class. They were noisy and having fun, while their teacher corrected workbooks. There were english words written on the board, as they are all introduced to the english language in school now. They enjoyed having their pictures taken and loved looking at themselves on the camera's digital screen.

We noticed that each child carred a small cloth bag. Inside were the spoons you see on the trays, a cup, and a toothbrush. After they ate, they washed their trays and put them in an open cage to dry. Then they got in line for ice cream.

After their ice cream, they played outside at recess, brushed their teeth and when the bell rang, they all went into a common area (I suppose the equivalent of the music room in size, but open on one wall to the outside). There, they all sat in lines, on the floor and did a little chanting. When I asked Malee what they were doing, she said they were going to meditate.

I remember a college teacher of mine saying, "Kids are kids are kids." It's true. They are the same everywhere. The only difference here is that they eat their ice cream in a slice of bread.

Thanksgiving

There is a definite feel to the holiday season in the U.S. and there is not an iota of the feeling here. It's hot, hot, hot. It must be quite humid here.

Being plopped down in the middle of another culture and country, it becomes quite clear the things at home that I'm thankful for. Here's the short list from Pai, Thailand:

1. being able to take this trip with my family
2. that we are together every waking (and sleeping) moment and we are still having fun together
3. that the air we breathe in the U.S. is clean and fresh
4. that my job is fulfilling , never boring, and the people I work with (adult and student alike) are great
5. that it is absolutely silent at night in Griffin Creek
6. that we have screens on all our windows
7. for my own car
8. that we have four seasons (although I don't mind missing out on one of the cold ones)
9. that I have a dog I can pet and hug without fear of rabies, scabies or worms
10. lastly, for family and friends, near and far

Markets

In every town there are several types of markets: morning markets, regualar daily markets, night bazaars and your everyday-type stores. We've been to several morning markets. Each one is different.

The first moring market we went to was in Chiang Rai. It felt very foreign. It also stunk. There were pig parts (including a pig head cut off at the neck) on one table and live fish at another. We went to one food vendor to get breakfast and when Scott asked him if there was anything that was not hot (sounds like "my pet") the vendor and one of his customers laughed themselves silly. He then pointed us toward a different vendor who sold us fried rice. I got really uncomfortable when an older woman was pointing at Phoebe and indicating that she needed sleeves on her sleeveless dress. Oops.

A few days ago, we were awakened in our bungalow to Muslim prayer being brodcast by microphone into the town of Mae Salong from the local mosque. We got out of bed and got dressed and walked just down the street to the morning market there. The specialty in that market is doughnuts. They are rectangular and nothing but dough boiled in oil. They were plenty tasty for a different kind of breakfast. The kids are often offered Ovaltine with a ton of sugar added. Our coffee was once again made with Nescafe, but this time, it had creamer and sweetened condensed milk. Actually it tasted pretty good. The weirdest thing we saw here was chicken feet.

The night markets, called Night Bazaars, are very interesting. People get set up in the late afternoon and bargain with customers all night. They stay open until midnight. There are so many people there. It's very different than the U.S. Everyone is up very late. It doesn't matter what day of the week it is. I like the items being sold at the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, and the food was great at the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar, with a gigantic seating area with neat metal yellow tables and chairs.

Food

The food here is absolutely the best. There are a zillion restaurants. And a zillion more steetside vendors. And a zillion more vendors in the markets. There is no shortage of good food.

In the mornings, we get banana pancakes if they are available, or perhaps fried rice. Some places serve fresh fruit and yogurt. I love that. The fruit is so good: watermelon, pineapple, papaya, banana, mango. MMMMMMMM.

One of the neatest things I've eaten so far was at the border with Myanmar. There was a man with a food cart barbequeing banana (they are shorter than ours). He grilled them until they were light brown on all sides. Then he put them in a hinged squisher (somewhat like a tortilla press) and flattened them a bit, then cut them into one inch pieces. Next, he put them in a plastic bag, poured an orangy sauce over them, added to bamboo kabob sticks and we paid 8 baht for them. They were delicious and like nothing I'd ever had before.

Too bad for me, there's no chocolate readily available. There's coffee all over, but many places serve instant Nescafe (why I'm not sure). When it's fresh, it's usually really good. We passed a Starbucks today, but I felt like that would be cheating, so I just passed it by.

Toilets

I know Mrs. A. might squirm a bit about this, but I thought you might be interested to see what bathrooms are like (outside of touristy areas like our bungalows). There is typically no toilet paper. There is a sprayer that is used in place of toilet paper, or (sorry everyone) a bucket with a direct water supply to fill it and a dipper. Sometimes you must pay 2 or 3 baht for the privelige of using one of these toilets. We'll leave it at that.

Myanmar ("Elaine..., I'm going to Burma.")

With a regular tourist visa, you can only stay in Thailand for 30 days. We went to Mae Salong, in the mountains up north, and decided that we were so close to the border that we should probably just go ahead and cross.

There is a river dividing Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and Thailand. Just outside our bungalow (my favorite structure we've stayed in so far), people were crossing the border by wading across the river. It was really bizarre. Thailand is a very clean country. No garbage problem. Sadly, there is a major garbage problem in Myanmar. There were bags and bags of garbage floating downriver. Scott actually saw people just throwing their trash into the river.

It was a totally different atmosphere in Burma. The minute we got over the bridge and through the gates there were people swarming us. Everyone was trying to sell us something. It was really sad. The first person I bought something from was a boy about your age who was selling playing cards and various other items. I had been looking all over for playing cards, so I bought from him. Be happy that you are entitled to a free education. I doubt that this boy will ever do anything but try and hawk his wares to tourists (the Thai people also cross over to purchase things cheaply). We were very happy to cross back over and get out of there.

Dogs

We are once again in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It doesn't seem as crazy as it was during Loi Krathong. We arrived yesterday by 2nd class bus. About $5 dollars per person to ride an air conditioned bus with a flight attendant (I realize it was a bus) who served a box of treats and Pepsi in a cup with ice.

There was a really cute dog in the bus station when we got in. It came and stood by me and I talked in my best Lucy voice. It wagged its tail and looked happy. It then proceeded to curl up in a ball and rest beneath our bench. I bent down to let it sniff my hand and it licked me. Ty tried the same thing and it snapped at him and scared me to death. We pretty much have to have a "don't touch the dogs" rule. You know that's hard for me.

Dogs are treated differently everywhere we go. In the mountains, where there is not as much money, dogs are pretty poor looking themselves. Mangy and dirty. In the city there are actually groomed pets. We've seen quite a few fluffy poodles.

At Malee's Nature Lovers Bungalows, she had four dogs. One little one that she adopted from a German couple who were going to try and take it back to Germany, but found it was way too expensive. Its name was Genie. She had an old crotchety dog that was the alarm system, a strange looking poodle-ish dog, and another that was called Sohn, but we called it Foxy.

The day that Malee took us to the village school, we were on our way on foot, with Genie and Sohn following, when Malee came swerving up to all of us. She almost took Genie out. She was almost under the wheel when she finally stopped.

The only newspaper I've looked at here was from Bangkok. It told a story of the Chinese government's current campaign to eliminate all canine pets. There were Chinese protestors. It's unusual to protest openly in China. Those animal lovers must feel the same way I do about dogs.

Happy Belated Birthday C.R.!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I missed a birthday on my list. C.R., for your birthday I will tell you a story from our trip.

We stayed in Malee's Nature Lovers Bungalows outside of Chiang Dow. Malee had a birthday on your birthday, the 9th. She donates food to the local village school 3 or 4 times per month. She buys all of the food and the cafeteria women cook it up. For her birthday, she invited all of us guests to attend lunch at the school.

The kids sat at wooden tables in an open-sided room. More like a covered patio than a room. The adults (teachers, Malee's guests, etc.) sat at the same wood tables but ours were covered with burgundy table cloths and we had several different Thai dishes to choose from, including the same noodle dish that the kids were eating.

They all wore uniforms. They came in lines by classrooms, washed their hands and then looped back around to the food line. They got a noodle dish and birthday cake and went and sat down. They did not eat until all of the kids had been served and the adults got their food. They were angelic. They were so quiet. I took video for the cafeteria staff at our school. When finally we were all seated, the kids all chanted something together and then a boy came to the head of Malee's table and thanked her on behalf of the students and school. Finally we ate. In the end, Malee had arranged for an ice cream vendor to come to the school with her motorcycle cart and give ice cream to the kids.

It was a good way to spend your birthday.

Lanterns at Loi Krathong

I just wanted you to see the beauty of the lanterns during the Loi Krathong celebration. Scott posted pics of the bamboo rafting trip, as you probably figured out. Hi Speed Internet here means these last two posts took me about an hour (almost $2.00). At home, they'd take about 10 minutes, maybe a little more depending on my creativity at the moment.

Longtail Boat

We traveled yesterday by longtail on the Mae Kok River (May Coke). There was another couple from Oregon onboard. They have been in the Peace Corp. for the last two years and are traveling on their way home. They were serving in Bulgaria and say that Thailand has a better infrastucture than Bulgaria. It is quite nice here.

We are in a place called, "My Dream". It is owned by a young family of the Karen Tribe. Our rent per night is $6.75. King sized bed, hot shower, and fan. The bathrooms here are an efficient affair; toilet, shower, and sink all in one tiled room. It has been the same in every place we've stayed.

While I was writing the Happy Birthday post the other night, Scott had the kids and they were walking down the street to kill time. I was working away and looked out the door of the video shop just as Scott and Phoebe were walking by on the other side of the street. NO TY! I jumped up and ran out of the shop with no explanation to the proprietor. "Where's Ty?" He was out on a "motorbike" ride with the lady we had do our laundry ealier. Entire families ride motorbike together. As you can see here, it was the mom and two of her daughters + Ty. Wow. Sometimes you see 5 people on one motorcycle. Babies, toddlers, it's crazy. They stopped off to buy candy. This woman was sooooo nice.

Happy Birthday L.R.

Last I looked, it was L.R.'s birthday on Nov. 11. It's still November 10th here, but tomorrow we will be on a longtail boat headed toward a town called Chiang Rai. It's a three hour trip down the river (Mekok???). We will stop at some hill tribe villages along the way. These are the indigenous people of the area.

I'm in a video shop in town called Tha Ton and above me on the wall is a poster of Wallace and Gromit. Same, same, but different. That's a local saying. You hear many asian people say "same, same."

Unfortunately, I cannot leave you a picture. We don't have the cable for the camera and they don't have a drive or a card reader to upload pictures to you.

At dinner tonight I took a picture of a golden retriever. Just like Lucy, but stinky. Happy though!! Miss you all. Sing happy birthday to L.R. for me.

Elephant Training Camp

We have moved on to a great place in the jungle called Malee's Nature Lover's Bungalows. It is the opposite of Chiang Mai and its insanity. It is very peaceful, quiet, and pretty. It is near a town called Chiang Dao and the lush mountains rise straight up to the sky behind our bungalow.

Today we visited an elephant training center. We watched them get bathed. We saw them practice logging techniques. We took a bamboo rafting trip, and finally, we got to ride the elephants.

I told you I'd write about who I thought of as I rode the elephants, and it was G.T. and B.Mc. as I know they enjoy riding horses, and as we lumbered up the middle of the river, I imagined it wasn't too much like riding a horse.

Loi Krathong

The Thai celebrate the water spirits in a festival called Loi Krathong each year in late October or early November depending on the full moon. It is a very beautiful celebration, with the release each night (for about a week) of paper hot air balloons into the night sky. All over you can see little orange lights floating all over the sky.

Of course, with celebration comes noise. Firecrackers, explosives, screaming loud music. Phoebe wasn't too keen. Ty slept through the first night of the celebration we attended.

We missed what I believe is probably the most beautiful part of the festival. Thousands of boats made of banana leaves with burning candles and burning incense are let loose on the river to honor the water spirits. I was too afraid to negotiate the fireworks being let off by people in the street. Pics are: Malee Guest House (where we are now, way out in the jungle), bamboo rafting on Mae Kok river near Chiang Dao, water buffalo on the way to Scott's Thai cooking course (awesome by the way).

The Zoo

We went to the Chiang Mai Zoo. It was great. We saw a lot of interesting animals: a white tiger, Bengal tiger, pandas, giraffes, monkeys, orangutan (very fat), strange deer (a lot of species), alligators (we could have fallen in, as most other countries are not as protective as the US), tapir, lots of snakes, ostriches, flamingoes, lots of different birds, turtles, and much, much more. There was hardly anyone there. Ty, who is helping me write this, really liked the zoo.

Getting Around

We are getting pretty good at getting around now. There are two major modes of travel: tuk-tuk and songthaew (pronounced song tow- as in "ow, that hurt!").

The tuk-tuk is a motorcycle with a backseat for about two people. They are open to the air and crazy. There are no road rules here. We can travel for about 50 Baht (36 aht=$1.00) across town.

The songthaew is a small truck that has a canopy with two benches running along each side in the back. It is also open on the sides with an open door in the back. The price is similar to the tuk-tuk, but more fun, as you get to ride with the locals.

Ty really likes the tuk-tuks and prefers to ride in them.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, We've Arrived!!

What an AMAZING journey. Although it's only November 3, at 1:35, it feels as though I've been gone a month already. I kept thinking of A.S. talking about people dying of sleep deprivation after 11 days. We had only a fraction of that and I felt like I might die.

The worst part of the trip was actually the drive down to San Francisco. The kids were like kids in the backseat of a car in the movies: parents trying to talk, while kids fight in the backseat. You can imagine. Anyway, thank goodness that was the worst. They were actually stellar on the plane rides.

The first flight took 13 hours and we flew 6,400 miles. It seemed eternal. You were asleep when we took off at midnight, and we didn't land until you were packing up to go home from school the next day. The kids got Hello Kitty backpacks filled with activities. Phoebe's was the original Hello Kitty with pink straps, Ty's was someone he took to calling "Captain Kitty" with blue straps.

We then landed in Taipei, Taiwan and had a short layover there, then back on another plane for three more hours and 1,550 more miles. Phoebe started this leg of the trip out by complaining of a stomache ache. Sure enough, as the wheels touched down in Bangkok, she projectile vomited all over herself. Total mess, and I'm sorry to share it here, but it seemed newsworthy to me. We got her all fixed up with the help of A LOT of really great flight attendants who spoke very little english. (Smart Mommy brought extra clothes for the kids.)

This was still not the end. We had a 4 hour layover in Bangkok and then caught our final 1 hour flight to Chiang Mai. We arrived at our guesthouse by 5:00 pm Chiang Mai time and decided to go straight to bed. We slept until 11:00pm and turned on the TV because we were all wide awake. We watched the Disney channel!! Hooray, it was in english.

The people LOVE Phoebe and Ty. They all talk to them, touch them, whistle at them. A group of women working at the gate in Bangkok loved Ty so much they were kissing him and taking pictures of themselves with him on their cell phones. Anyone who's met Ty knows that he is initially shy. He would not smile at them. It was very cute. I looked up the word for shy: ai. So now we have Ai Ty.

It reminds me very much of Mexico here. Sadly, I speak not a word of Thai, so I'm slightly less comfortable here. The people are so nice though, so it really doesn't matter. We have ventured out today. First (via Tuk Tuk, above picture is of the kids looking at several Tuk Tuks lined up ready to go) to a gigantic mall (not at all like ours) and for a walk around our neighborhood. It is crazy busy. There's not a single stop light or stop sign that I've seen. I told Scott that crossing the road was like playing an extreme version of Frogger.