First World Thai-diness

Thanks to everyone for their loving words to me about Sadie. I am, of course, still very sad but I am forcing myself to remember the good times that we shared together every time I start to feel gloomy. There were hundreds of days spent in the mountains hiking, which we both loved so much. There was the excited look in her eyes that she would get when we were anywhere near the water and she could swim. The prayers that I could see in her eyes when I started getting dressed in the morning...is it work clothes or walking clothes? She knew. There was her first meat bone ever that I gave her for her 10th birthday, and she was so confused. It took her nearly a day of sniffing and licking to start chewing. Ultimately, I know that I would choose to do it all over again even knowing the outcome. Certainly the love and joy I received from her is greater than the pain I am feeling right now, despite how overwhelming it feels.

I've been in Thailand now for two weeks and while that is kind of a "normal" vacation length, for me now it feels a bit rushed. That said, I've had a nice time but haven't quite adjusted to the normalcy of it all after having been so immersed in the Cold Hard Third World for the past six months.

Thailand is really clean and Western. I guess I imagined that it would be more like India than the USA, but indeed that is not the case. There are lines on the roads, stop lights that people obey, virtually no potholes in the entire country, a very well organized and clean transit system, road signs, no litter at all - even recycling bins on the sides of the highway, Starbucks (first one since Seattle), and virtually every convenience imaginable. Even the temples are spotless and shiny. It is a very comfortable, easy country to travel in. It is beautiful, but my perceptions are clouded by my experiences of the past six months.

That said, the tourists here are very different from those of India and Nepal. While I have met many nice people here, when you walk in the streets you see so many gross men with sweet, young Thai women. They are what the Lonely Planet calls "sex tourists" and they are disgusting. I didn't take any photos, but you can just imagine. Maybe 20% (?) of the tourists are here for that one purpose, and they are not afraid to strut through the streets with their prize on their arm. Quite a contrast from India and Nepal where you never, ever saw even hand-holding or a woman's knee for that matter!

I made the most of my time here, and had a few really great experiences including:

Learning how to make my own curry paste, Pad See Ew and Tom Yum at cooking school in Chiang Mai. Did you know that using a bit of salt with the soap when you wash your hands after cutting chilis takes out the oil so that you don't burn your eyeballs? Or that touching the metal of your tap while washing your hands after cutting garlic takes out the stink? Oh, and fish sauce and a teaspoon of sugar are the secret ingredients in basically every single Thai dish! Those tips alone were worth the cost of the course! Now you know... and I will be eager to try out my new skills when I get home so get in line!

Since I didn't get to see tigers in India despite my best attempts (and besides, I needed a little animal love to heal my grieving heart), I decided to go to a place that has tigers in captivity so I could see and touch them. They were obviously well cared for and loved. It was a little cheesy, but totally cool. I mean, how often can you lay your head on a tiger and hear it's lunch digesting while it takes an afternoon nap? This one here was five months old, 130 pounds, and his name was Simba. I got to watch them play in their pond, eat lunch, nap and walk around. Then, I got to touch and pet and even kiss them!

In Bangkok, I went to the Taling Chan Floating Market, which was fantastic! It was a very local kind of market experience, with many of the vendors in canoes on the canals cooking and selling from there. I found Mieng Kam in a bag for 30 cents (my favorite!), ate fish ball soup, barbequed scallops, grilled fish, Thai ice dessert, noodle something-or-other, tasted fresh tamarind (weird), palm sugar candy and just about everything I could put in my mouth. I discovered that the Thai people put chilies in everything! Gerdien and I met three really nice Thai people who come there every Sunday for a feast, and they were so kind to share their table and a bit of everything that they had with us too. It was beautiful, sensory and delicious!

Tomorrow I will cross the Mekong River into Laos, and take a two-day boat ride down the river to Luang Prabang. I will arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia around March 21 (Happy Birthday Dad!) to do some volunteer work with an amazing group called Cambodia We Care. I'm looking forward to soaking in these final days of Asia. It has been a life-changing experience, for certain.

With love,

Pam