Updates
|
Subject: Sawadee Ka!
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 12:57:33 +0000
Hello Everyone!
6 days after my arrival in Bangkok airport, here I am in Thailand. A land where you don't mess with Buddha, where lady boys are a common thing, where pot and opium are sold like souvenirs, where 10 is the minimum age to get your motorbike licence, and where you can seriously overdose on curries, shakes and fruit !! I've gone back to the basics and learnt my Hello, goodbye, thank you, how much is it? and most important of all, can I have a discount?:)
Chiang Mai is a pleasant enough city although not big enough to keep you interesting for long. Once you've seen the day market (very novel and interesting food selection) and the night market (very cheap and
interesting clothes selection;) you've just about done it all unless you want to spend another month going from one temple to the next! ;) I rented a bike for an afternoon but soon covered the whole area without much excitement.
Outside of Chiang Mai however there are plenty of things to do and see as I found out on a 3 day Jeep trek around the northwestern part of the province, through Pai and Mae Hong Son. Activities in those 3 days included: Elephant trekking, Bamboo rafting, Relaxing in hot springs, swimming at the base of a water fall, attending a snake show (some nutter messing around with cobras and pythons and some sucker called Mendez agreeing to have the python put around her neck! ;), exploring huge caves and visiting ethnic tribes of Burmese, Chinese and Tibetan origin. All this punctuated with delicious meals and very comfy accommodation (a bit of a shock to go from 'engine room class' to 'clean and comfy class' ;))
Anyway, it was great fun and it was interesting for me to see the
differences/similarities between south China (Xishuangbana) and north
Thailand, which share a lot of their historical background and landscape. Get ready for some piccies soon cos I took the plunge and got them all developed here! Apart from 3 rolls which my sis has got! (Diana... hint, hint ;)
After the trek I had the choice to either go Bungie jumping or go for a Thai cooking class? Guess which one I picked? Quite! The cooking class wins anytime!!! I hope you all understand I did it for you all:) Thai spring rolls, chicken and sweet basil leaves, green curries, papaya salad, pad thai and banana/coconut deserts have no secrets for me anymore and what else am I gonna do if not try it all on you guys! Question is when? :))
I did the course today and since you eat everything you cook (see list above) I am feeling on the heavy side! ;) Thailand is definitely growing on me. It is completely geared for tourists so it doesn't feel as adventurous as China did, but once you've sit down at a cafe have 3 gorgeous and 'indecently' cheap fruit shakes, you realise you could get used to it after all;)
My next destinations will be around the northeastern part of Thailand which I am hoping will be less touristy and more authentic. And then it's party on with the Bry! :))
Hope you are all well, I hear the sun is finally showing its face in
Europe. Hope it stays that way!
Take care - Lots of love
Little Mendez xx
|
|
