Village Life, Culture, and Cooking

It's very difficult to blog during these tours because there's not a great deal of down time, unlike Peace Corps when I had days and days to write and elaborate about my experience.  These travel blog posts seem to be more of the highlights.

Wednesday (Homestay)

• Cooking class to make Northern Tomato Chili Dipping Sauce.  (Yum!)
• Dinner with traditional Thai music and dancing performed by families in the village.

As we were participating in the candlelight dance with the locals, a massive meteor shot across the sky.  I've never seen a meteor, but I have a feeling this one was particularly close, based on the huge tail it had and length of time we watched it.  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Thursday

• Bike ride through the village; stopped to learn about processing rice (by hand) and mushroom farming.
• Left the homestay and traveled north to Chiang Mai.
• Stopped for a quick visit at an elephant hospital.
• Walked around Chiang Mai and saw three temples in the historic part of town.

• Went to the temple Wat Doi Suthep at the top of a mountain; received a blessing from a Buddhist monk and listened to them chanting.

At the end of the evening, the group decided to dive into Chiang Mai nightlife and go to a "Thai lady boy" cabaret show.  Kind of a strange way to end a day of temples and Buddhism . . . going to a drag queen show.  But it was tons of fun.

Friday

• Elephant sanctuary - we spent the entire day feeding and playing with elephants.

• Massage #3
• Farewell dinner at a very nice Thai restaurant (5 people will not continue on the trip to the south)
• Night market shopping

Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold . . . and the dirt mountain roads had turned to mud . . . and we got stuck in the mud near the edge of cliff.  It was the scariest car ride I've ever been on, but the driver and guide acted like it was no big deal - they do it all the time.

Saturday

• Thai cooking class - we made spring rolls, hot & sour soup, Pad Thai, green curry.

• Walked around Chiang Mai - found a French bakery and got some pastries.

Now on to the overnight train back to Bangkok!

Sukhothai

Ok, I need to make this quick, since we're packing up to move to the next town (and there won't be any internet connection for a day or two).

Sukothai is the name of the town we stayed in for the past two nights.  Yesterday we took a bicycle tour through the historical park (with all of the temples and statues), had a home-cooked authentic lunch, visited a ceramic shop and local food market, and enjoyed the evening light show at the temple.  Here's the day in pictures.  (*Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to upload the pictures from my point-and-shoot camera; my work laptop doesn't have any photo software.  So I can only share the pics from my phone.)

Bike tour!  (Don't worry - I also wore a helmet.  Those pics are on my other camera.)

Our tour guide, Nok.  She's hilarious - her humor definitely makes the trip a lot of fun!

Ceramic craft shop

I bought a bag of Coke in Thailand.  (Ha ha, we had a lot of fun saying that one!)  Let me explain: sodas are sold in glass bottles, and the vendors need to collect them (after you finish your drink) in order to reuse them.  So when you need a drink "to go," they pour the liquid into a plastic bag.  Hence, I bought a bag of Coke.

It was such an incredible day.

Impressions of Thailand

Part I

After two long travel days, I decided to have leisurely morning (albeit that started at 4:00am) and unpack a little, get situated, and enjoy a big breakfast at the hotel.  I started the day by taking an Uber to the Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, which is the largest market in Southeast Asia.  Seriously!  I got lost for over an hour trying to find my way out.  I kept trying to take a shortcut through the market to the other side, but would get turned around and end up at same entrance every time.  I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone - always ending at the same spot no matter which way I turned.  Eventually, I decided to just walk around the perimeter to find my way out.  That worked.

Later that day (after walking for many hours), I indulged in a Thai massage - my first of many this trip. (It only costs $7.00 for a one-hour massage!)  For those who are not familiar, Thai massage is a floor massage, fully clothed, with lots of stretching/pulling/twisting of the body.  It's closer to physical therapy than an oil massage.  This was my first experience with Thai massage and it was quite intense.  (My muscles are very tight and I don't enjoy having my bones cracked.)  It's not very relaxing, but it's extremely beneficial for joints, muscle pain, and circulation.

*Note: after talking with one of my group mates, it sounds like I did not have a good therapist.  I will try again today (at the hotel in Sukothai) and see if it's more relaxing.

On Sunday night, my tour group met for introductions and dinner.  There are nine people in my group (3 boys, 6 girls), ranging in ages from 18-60's.  Countries of origin include Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada, Peru, Switzerland, and the UK.  This group will only be together for the first week, then 5 people are done with their tour and 4 of us (plus some additional others) will continue to the south for week two.

Part II

Today was not nearly as exciting, since we spent six hours on a bus to Sukothai.  But to our surprise, we arrived at a gorgeous resort hidden in this small town.

While there wasn't much activity today, six hours gave me plenty of time for reflection, and I've noted many contrasts between Thailand and my experience in Uganda.

• One of first things I picked up on was how polite and courteous people are here.  There was no yelling at a taxi park; no harassment at the marketplace.  Thai people are soft-spoken and non-confrontational  - I feel very comfortable talking with everyone here.
• The second thing I noticed was the sheer number of 7-Elevens here.  They're everywhere.  Yes, 7-Eleven - the little convenient store - is thriving in Thailand.  It was unexpected and amusing.
• Thailand is very clean.  There is virtually no trash on the streets (and they recycle here!).  This is a sharp contrast to Uganda, where trash was everywhere.

• I'm feeling very nostalgic for the village life . . . I feel like I could live here (at least for a little while).  Maybe it's because the rural areas in Thailand are a bit more developed than Uganda.  Maybe it's because I love Thai food and could eat it every day.  Did I mention how lovely the people are?  :)  Maybe I should try to get on some public health projects in Thailand.

One Night in Taipei

When I booked my trip to Thailand, I intentionally picked the 17-hour layover in Taiwan so that I could visit a friend from grad school.  While it sounded good in theory, I don't think I'll do such a short visit again.  First of all, ten hours was not enough time for Mollie and I to catch up.  We could have talked all weekend.  Second, I was exhausted from the flight and then pushed myself to run around the night markets in the Taipei and cram in as many activities as I could until midnight.  It was not the best way to explore the city.  And third, I didn't get to see the rest of the country.  I would have liked at least one or two more days to learn about Taiwan.

That said, the 17 hours that I did spend in Taipei were awesome.  Mollie and I had a happy reunion at the airport and took the buses/train straight to the night market.

I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't there to help guide me - almost all of the signage is in Chinese and hardly anyone speaks English.  I've been so used to traveling to countries with English as a major language that I completely forgot about potential language barriers.  (She warned me that it will be difficult to communicate in Thailand too!)

The Raohe Night Market was everything I thought it would be: street food (mostly meat), small trinkets, jewelry, cheap plastic toys, etc.  

Unfortunately, the airplane food had made me a little nauseous, and the smell of the street meat just made it worse.  Mollie and I ended up having dinner in a cute Taiwanese restaurant . . . just noodles and broth for me.  After the market, Mollie suggested that we go to see the Taipei 101 Tower (Taiwan's tallest building).  By the time we got there (at 11:30pm), all of the lights were off and there wasn't much see . . . literally.  

(Taipei 101 is the building with the antenna.  Not very spectacular without the lights.)

Oh well.  It was a beautiful night - perfect for walking around.

Our night ended back at Mollie's apartment, where we chatted until 2:00am.  Then I got up at 5:00am to go to the airport and catch my next flight.  I've had a total of 4 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours, which has caused me to crash in my hotel room in Bangkok.  Tomorrow I will venture out into the city - today I need rest.