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Probably the best experience we’ve had thus far on our adventures in Thailand happened on day one of our scooter journey.  We heard some funny cartoon-like voices and saw what looked like a school fair outside of a temple and decided to stop in and see wat was wat.  (Get it?  ha).  Sure enough, there was a very animated play going on in a lovely little outdoor theatre with a crowd of children in school uniforms and their parents/elderly sitting in the audience.  There was fair food Thai styles: spicy salads, breads and dried silk worms (yum).  We went into the temple compound and were greeted by a woman who knew some English.  She toured us around the temple and showed us how to use the pulley system on the ‘wisher’ (my word not hers).  An elaborate-looking bucket that you pour holy oil/water/flowers into, make your wishes, and hoist up to the top of the Chedi where it effectively dumps its contents onto the side of the structure - thus, releasing your wish.  Then she led us to the shrines and we lit some incense and gave some flower offerings and made more wishes while trying, and failing, to light candles in the windy weather.  Lee asked if it was bad luck to have to light your incense three times… I guess we’ll never know though, because, like many other things these past few weeks, it was lost in translation (LIT).

When we asked her what we were supposed to wish for/say she replied: wish ‘for money, for happy, for luck’.  So all this time I was checking out devout folk at shrines with a solemn heart and now she tells me they were sitting there wishing for money??!!  Ha… Kidding.  I’m sure that’s just what some people say when they kneel and light candles.  Not all…

Everyone at the fair was kind to us - said hello, was interested in making us feel at home, wanting to show us the various parts of their fair/temple etc.  Our first authentic Northern Thai hospitality experience outside of the kind folks at our hotels (i.e. the first people who weren’t paid to be nice to us, were so nice!).   I was wanting to impress these people with my two words of Thai but kept mixing up ‘hello’ and ‘thank-you’…

What did I wish for?  Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t come true…

Trying on some fisherman pants in Hat Rim - the Full Moon Party Beach

Some great long-tail boats lined up at the pier in Koh Phagnan

Some bungalow options near the above pier in Koh Phagnan

Lee getting a haircut in the quirkiest little hair salon - with birds and one large fish who looked very sad in his murky tank

You can take little gold paper squares and rub them onto the statues of Buddha as an act of reverence

Serene-looking

A partial reconstruction following damage during a major earthquake in the 1500’s or war - of Wat Chedi Luang

Last night we had our first REAL night market experience.  Sure we had been to the Bangkok Night Market and the Chiang Mai Night Market but the Saturday Walking Street was amazing!  Low prices, friendly people and tasty (cheap) food.  We had pork/rice sausages, spicy noodle salad, chicken satay, and a Thai dessert classic: folded chocolate chip waffles on a stick.  Boy were they good :)  And I think the entire dinner cost us a few dollars.  Maybe two US dollars.  Unreal.  And not having to haggle and bring down the price on things we wanted to purchase made all the difference, personality wise, in both the merchant and the buyer.  There were musicians, many disabled physically in some way (blindness, amputation etc.), sitting in the middle of the walking street playing their Thai tunes.  So the atmosphere was great.  Lovely music, people, smells, tastes and a backpack full of purchases at the end of the night.  There is so much we want to buy and bring home - but we are already overweight on luggage (or darn close to) so we have to be choosy.  We had heard people say ‘Go to Thailand with an empty suitcase’ and, boy, they were right.  Now I know why Pier One is such a rip off… everything they sell can be bought here for 1/50th of the price.

A few observations about Thailand I wanted to share:

1. At temples/monasteries we often see donation lock-boxes.  At one temple we saw a number of boxes ‘for the dogs’.  Apparently people around here really do take care of all living creatures (I love Buddhists) and ask for spare change to care for the strays that frequent the temples.  I have to say, the dogs here look great.  Shiny coats, flea collars, a little chubby… no heart-wrenching cases of sad-looking-puppy like in Sri Lanka.

2. I like countries that practice Buddhism better than ones devoted to other religions.  These people are very family oriented, peaceful, visit shrines and pray together, and live in a way that makes their personal value systems evident.  I love that there is a set of community advisers in place that all people go to for support: the monks.  A highly valued set of people for many reasons.  I feel like, as a result, the community has a strong foundation, and its members, a lot in common with one another as a result of this shared value.

3. We visited a few temples a few days back in the old part of the city (the part of Chiang Mai located within the moat) and were amazed at the amount of detail in the architecture and design of the buildings.  They looked incredible.  No such thing as minimalism here.  There was a smaller building beside a number of large temples/Wats/Chedis that we ventured into.  Inside there were murals painted in incredible detail ALL OVER the interior.  Like detailed wall-paper, they clung to the walls telling stories of love and loss and life. The number of hours it must have taken to complete these paintings must have been unreal!

4. I wish I knew another language.  Sad (and amazing) how many people we meet in non-English-speaking countries who speak English well, or even at all… and this snobby English girl only knows English.  How self-absorbed is that?!

5. Here, on TV, there are a few news channels to choose from.  RT: Russian Television, which I’ve watched with a large degree of interest these past few days as half my family tree is ‘rooted’ there.  And a news program based in Kuala Lampur.  Which, a year ago, I would have been clueless about where that city was located, and now, I’ve been there twice.

6. Speaking of geography - I think I am getting much better at it.  Countries far from Canada now have meaning for me, I know people in them, or I have been there myself… if only I could go back in time and get on ‘Where in the world is Carmen SanDiego’ !!!  That program used to be so far over my head.  Now, at nearly 30, I think I’d stand a chance against all those geographically gifted 7 year olds.

7.  Thai people are very good at making me feel at home in their country.  Yesterday one of our little bed and breakfast’s staff fed me a bowl of bananas when I was feeling hungry.  This morning, the older Thai lady cooked us an amazing English breakfast (I’ve never had such a big omelet in my life).  The girl behind the desk yesterday pointed out some of her favorite places ‘to hang out’ on our city map.

8. I really think it’s senseless for people to pay big bucks to go to luxury resorts for a few weeks where you are trapped and have to pay their restaurant and water and alcohol prices… why not come to Thailand where you can eat cheap, live cheap and get around this big beautiful country… for cheap!  Currently, this amazing little bed and breakfast, costs us 27$US a night.  With AC and WIFI.  Renting a scooter for the day costs 7$US and a full tank costs 4$ US.  There is just no comparison.  I love this country.

9. If you’ve slugged through the rest of this post (dad and dad) then ye shall be rewarded.  Lee and I are two EXTREMELY lucky individuals when it comes to our families.  Both of us are fortunate enough to have fabulous fathers who love, support and exude excitement from afar.  Today is Father’s Day (and in 10 hours or so it will be for you guys too) and we are already celebrating.  We can’t wait to hug you Dads!!!  We think of you every day, talk about you every day, and look forward to some much-needed (and highly anticipated on our end) time together in a few short weeks.  Please know, that there is no end to the ‘mush’ inside me for each of you.

Happy Father’s Day to our fathers.  XOXO