Judgments, observations, and descriptions

Still in Chiang Mai. We have visited the best museum we've seen so far. The house to the left is Lana Style. The Buddha is pretty self explanatory. I felt much more comfortable taking photos of the exhibits in the museum. I find it unsettling to treat the locals as though they are some sort of curiousity.

The scenic gem to the right is the view from the baronesses back yard. I'd run off the mafia with my foul mouth too if I were responsible for caring for this. (My apologies that little of this blog this seems to be following much of a chronological order. I keep finding more wowee photos on the camera.

And here we have the creme de le creme. This is the initial installment of my Thai tattoo. I return for the color on Monday - and potentially some negotiations with Pom's business manager who is a shrewd business partner. I also have yet to determine if my negotiation skills will be any sort of match with hers. But isn't this koi lovely? (Mother, I know you have different thoughts.)

When we left for this journey I had in mind to work on my judgmentalism, a trait so blatantly pointed out by my former employer. So, I am "observing my judgments" (how very DBT for those of you in the know). But then I wonder what exactly is the difference between a judgment and an observation and a description. If I describe the Americans in Starbucks as loud (and they were). That is an description, an observation, and a judgment. If I describe the weather as warm and observe the fact that I am sweating profusely - then I am judging this country as pretty damn hot. How then am I to free myself from judgements?

As I try to be more Buddhist in my living I will say that I am doing a good bit better at embracing suffering. About 3o minutes into my tattoo I fainted (the pain and heat did me in). Pom was lovely and patient and gracious about my exceeding embarrassment. I'm certainly no virgin to tattoos.

I heart Pom

This is indicative of infrastructure in Thailand. The Seattle folks should thank their lucky stars they don't have this for a viaduct.

Of course it is also necessary to capture Franimal in his true element - a beer garden. I am developing a taste for the Singha but still find that Francis generally gets to finish my beer after I've had a few sips. Singha ain't no Chardonnay.

I included the ele-sculpture for our dear Erica. She is taking care of our ramshackle house, my beloved garden, and our loony-tunes cat.

We were feeling sheepish about continuing to take McFran on tour. Of course we want to be respectful of the culture and religion. But then you encounter a Donald Duck eating a plate of rice at a wat and it leaves you to wonder if McFran could possibly be offensive.

This little fellow to the left I have dubbed ponder monkey. He's from Lop Buri. Fran is a much better photog than I am. And he looks so sweet. Rest assured, though, he'd have zero qualms about snatching your purse in search of some goodies.

Your guess is a as good as mine. We encountered this art at a wat in Chiang Mai.

Now to explain Pom. We have found a divine Italian restaurant in Chiang Mai, Pom Pui. Homemade pasta, pizza margarita for $3, REAL napkins (mostly you get a roll of tp on the table) and the wine is aight.

Then Fran went looking for the other Pom. Pom tattooed Francis with the Monkey King about 7 years ago. We were heart broken when we came back this way in 2004 and could not find him anywhere. But as Fran loves to walk the streets in the heat of the day we found him again!

We'll be spending almost a week here - putting the Laos trip on hold a bit more. I'm having some tattoo work done, a traditional style koi to tie in the flowers on my back. Stay tuned for those pix!

Random shots

Cuteness all the way around... The first shot is of me and Margaret at the alleged biggest gong in Thailand (or the world - I'm not sure which she claimed).

The second shot is of the monkeys in LopBuri being being cute - before they attacked Sheri.





The Buddha is a promise I made to E & P for a blessing.

Lastly we have the tea workers in Mae Sa Long - north of Chiang Rai. A mostly Chinese town. We were able to see the tea being harvested and processed before enjoying a delicious cup ourselves.

Random Musings by AC

Disclaimer: the following thoughts are strictly those of Amy. I imagine Francis would disagree with me on the finer points of some of what I'm about to say and the greater points of others. Just need to make that clear.

I am a truly lousy photographer and have yet to manage the finer points of blogging layout, so this posting is strictly words. However, I know that my beloved friends and fam are all literate. I also like to fancy that the things I have to say are just as interesting as the pictoral documentation.

Capitalism. As a social worker I've maintained strong feelings about capitalism and a firm disbelief in the "invisible hand of the market." However, I've recently begun to recognize how bizarre it is to travel in a land devoid (in many but not all ways) of the capitalist ways. The Thais appear to live for today. For this moment. There seems to be such little concern for stocking away bits for a nest neg or worrying about tomorrow. They make enough money to live for the day or the moment -then it's all about resting, relaxing, enjoying food, life and family. Work day is done. Sound lovely until you're an American who is hungry for lunch at 2:00, and every restaurant is closed from 2-5 PM. Or you want to return to a store and buy something you saw yesterday and the store is closed because the lucky money has already been accumulated for the day.

On a lighter note, let me extole the virtues of tiger balm. It works wonders on itchy mosquito bites and when placed under the nose can divert the smell of urine when you've been unfortunate enough to be assigned the backseat of an aircon bus with a toilet. I guess it's sort of what medical professionals do when performing autopsies.

And then there are the toilets. Americans are spoiled. Okay - maybe not spoiled. I like to think of it is simply hygenic. If you find a toilet with tp - you're in in great luck. (I carry my own - just in casey.) If there's soap, I do a happy dance. But I NEVER dry my hands on the towels. They're not paper towels, but hand towels stiff with days of use. Air drying is fine by me. European toilets seem to be in greater abundance than when we've traveled here before. But I am quite pleased with myself because I have mastered the squat toilet without peeing on my feet. (Sheri will understand that one.) A true sign of a seasoned SE Asian traveler!

We've parted ways with Margaret. She was lovely, and we had a lovely time and met some remarkable Dutch expats - doing the good work - involved in political actions to free Tibet and in helping the hilltribe cultures to learn English and preserve their heritage. The straw for me with Margaret was a lively debate on race relations in the US. I cringe any time any conversation is punctuated by statements like "I'm not racist, but they're just so lazy." "Slavery was 200 years ago. They should just get over it." I will not step on my soap box here. But I find it curious that a woman who has limited experience with African Americans and poverty has such strong views. OK. it's not curious. It's typical. And it breaks my heart that when I am so impassioned that I have difficulty articulating what I have witnessed - the failure of public education, the ongoing segregation of neighborhoods, and the fact that schools are funded by public tax dollars. So, if you're poor - your options are limited, and your education is crap. Anyone ignorant enough to argue that racism is dead in America isn't paying attention.

OK. So this blog is supposed to be about our SE Asian adventures. I'll return to that. Francis has been increasingly pleased with the food choices. We found a lovely Italian restaurant in Chaing Rai - Il Pirata (where we met Margaret). Homemade gnocchi and pesto that he grows himself. And wine. Sweet wine. Our terrible Indian food experience was erased by Arabia Restaurant where the curry burned my lips for 3o minutes after the meal. Tonight we'll dine at Aum - a veggie place with Khao Soi that I've been dreaming about for days.

I'll try to get more photos posted soon. We have some curious shots of bizarre art, and an elephant fountain for my dearest Aery Fairy. Lots of love to all of you!

Tea with Royalty

The hills of Chiang Rai province almost put Seattle to shame. It was a rainy, foggy day, so the photos are not as brilliant as I would like for them to be.

The house on the left is Ben Guest House in Chiang Rai. We loved it at first. Until Patrick, the proprietor, turned a bit surly. We suspect he was mad that we obtained "free" trekking with Margaret and did not have to shell out 3,ooo baht for one of his packages. Margaret was kind enough to make some calls and find us a new place to stay.

The house on the right is the guest house on the estate where we had dinner with Margaret and the baroness last night. The baronesses lives 40 minutes north of Chiang Rai, on a lush estate. She's caring for the property as the former owner's son works out the legal details of his father's will. Crazy tale I'll save for some other time. The baroness does indeed have major cajones as she single handedly chased off the mafia who were there to steal the old man's jeep. No worries. This event did not take place while we were enjoying dinner.

Tonight we've been invited to an violin concert put on by the Akha children.

BTW, Sheri, if you had seen the side of Thailand we've seen the last few days I'd just bet you'd change your mind about Thailand being a place where you could live!

Chiang Rai, Margaret, and the Baroness

Since We've deprived you all of photos on the last posting, I'm backtracking a bit here. The top two shots are from the POW cemetery in Kanchanaburi (workers who died building the Bridge on the River Kwai). I was most intrigued by Phoebe's marker. She seemed to be the only female in the cemetery, and I wanted to pay special homage to her. We learned that the workers were originally buried right where they died, but with identifying items. So that when the bodies were removed to this proper cemetery, the remains could be identified.

The following photos were taken after we met Margaret, a fellow American and expat from LA. Margaret has been a doll and has scads of stories to tell. We fell in love with her immediately when we learned that she is a founding mother of the Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco.

She took us across to Burma. No worries. We stayed for only about 2 hours - long enough to get our passports stamped and get the heck out. It was all rather reminiscent of Nogales, Mexico.

Margaret then drove us up into the mountains. We saw some of the most incredible things. There's Francis and I posing in front of the world's largest gong. We expect it would take 5-6 strong people just to lift the gong and ring the bell.

The children are Akhi children. Not so keen on being on film, but they agreed nonetheless. I was not so keen to see them not in school.

I'll get to the baroness in a minute.

The folks along the way

Sorry, peeps, no photos on this posting. I've yet to find an internet cafe in Chiang Mai that will permit me to borrow their card reader. The other Westerners around are also being stingy and not terribly helpful. Fortunately the stingy and unhelpful behavior is by far the exception to the norm.

We've actually met some incredibly nice folks along the way. We bussed it back to Ayutthaya from Kanchanaburi, meeting a lovely Frenchman who was grateful for our assistance in navigating the public bus system. He's had an unfortunate time on his holiday. His laptop was stolen in Cambodia, money also taken from his room. He fell on the sidewalk in Kanchanaburi, banging up his hands and face. Fortunately he didn't suffer any broken bones. He was a comfort to us after Francis fell disembarking from the bus. No worries. Francis is quite alright. He suffered some gnarly bruises and a wounded ego, but other than that he's just fine as evidenced by his raging appetite and penchant for strolling the city for hours in the blazing sun of the afternoons.

My love is such an even tempered guy. Up until now I could only count two things that ever bent him out of shape - moving insanely heavy furniture and when food sticks to the pan. Now I have one more thing to add - bad meals in SE Asia. We ventured out for some Indian food last night. It was tasteless and uninspired, and I suspect it may have originated from a can. The palak paneer was nothing more than strained spinach, and the aloo mateer was nothing more than strained potatoes with a few errant peas. The veggie pakoras were hush puppies masquerading as pakoras. Francis has no tolerance for bad food in Thailand. There is simply no excuse when the ingredients are so fresh and inexpensive. Next time we'll heed the wisdom of the Lonely Planet.

We spent 11 hours on a train to get to Chaing Mai. It was by far one of the best experiences we've had so far. The scenery was unbelievable - lush jungle breaking away in the valleys to reveal small towns that time forgot. The conductor was exceptionally kind. An elderly man had commandeered our assigned seats. Rather than ask him to move, the conductor merely showed us to different seats. The Thais have a such a profound respect for their aging. At one point the conductor came out, sat across from the elderly man and massaged his legs with tiger balm. It was the sweetest of gestures and unlike anything I could imagine seeing in the States.

The conductor was also lovely and kind to me. He allowed me to smoke in the rear of the train in his little conductor's room. At night, the train porter turned on the lights for me so that I could see inside the deep cave-tunnels as we rushed through. My awe and gratitude seemed to inspire in him a certain gratitude.

We'll stay in Chiang Mai through Tuesday morning. Then we head north to Chiang Rai.

Tigers, Monkeys, and McFran

The Monkey Temple sounded like such a good idea. As you can see from the photo, they're actually rather evil little creatures (reminiscent of the gremlins). We took a train to Lop Buri (Monkey Town) for the whopping sum of 39 cents. We didn't stay long at the Monkey Temple as it became very clear very early that the monkeys were in charge and we weren't much more than reluctant guests being tolerated at best. After the second monkey jumped onto our friend, Sheri's, back - we'd all had quite enough.

So, we decided that we needed a little McFran to cheer us up! The Thais were perfectly nonplussed and barely raised an eyebrow. Only the other farangs stared - startled and unsettled.

Unable to leave well enough alone - we took a tour of Tiger Temple. Sounds brilliant, right! I found the whole experience rather frightening - especially after being forced to sign a release of liability waiver. The monks would not accept any responsibility if we were mauled. Fran was brave enough to pet the filthy creatures. I, however, adamantly shook my head no each time I was encouraged to sit a little closer. The trace of a smile on my face is nothing more than a fearful grimace.

We have one final night in Kanchanburi, home to the Bridge on the River Kwai. Tomorrow it's back to Ayutthaya so that we can get the third class train to Chang Mai. We've truly enjoyed our time in this little town. The veg food has been out of this world, and Francis has been able to stick to only 3 meal intervals as he generally gets to finish my meals as well.

Bye Bye Bangkok

For our last day in Bangkok we visited the Jim Thompson House. Francis fell in love with the decor and is musing about divesting of our current possessions to redo the Y-2 crib Jim Thompson-Thai style.

After some mango and sticky rice and street pad thai we waddled over to see a lady-boy show at the Mambo. The Mambo retains 2 gorgeous lady-boys, a dozen mediocre ones, and a handful of simple queens to play the "boy" parts. The show was geared primarily for a Japanese audience. However, we did get a little taste of Destiny's Child. (I was not ready for that jelly.)

We're thrilled to be in Ayuthaya. The lodging is just $9/night and meals are running about $6 for the two of us. The rain is keeping us in, but I can't complain about having the time to read and write and surf the nets to check out what my li'l LiLo is up to lately.

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble

We apologize for the lack of photos on this post. This silly monkey forgot the USB cord and the memory card for the digi-cam. We'll be up and running with the pictures soon enough.

We've found Bangkok a good bit more spendy than our last two trips, so we're heading out of town tomorrow. We did splurge on a meal at Cabbages & Condoms, one of our fave Thai restaurants in town. I treated myself to a little Chardonnay - to the tune of $7USD for a 4 oz. pour. (I suppose Ames best develop a taste for Singha beer.)

We've spent the last two days exploring the city with the lovely Sheri Bair. Thank goddess she was here to school us on the use of the Sky Train.

We'll have more tales to tell as we head north. Hugs and kisses all the way around!