Chaing Mai, nearing the end

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Hello all. Not too much exciting as happened since we last wrote. It seems our time in Thailand is coming to an end. We had a wonderful time at Mr. Hilary’s. We also got to meet some cool and not so cool people. We meet a couple traveling from Italy, who had nothing but good things to say about India. They traveled there extensively and gave us some good advice about places to visit. We also meet a couple from Canada who drove us up the wall. Enough said!

After driving the motorbike with me and Jim and both of our packs, 2 hours going straight down hill, riding the brakes the whole time, I did what I swore I would never do again and got on another Swangthaw. We then headed for Pai. Some people really love Pai but we could not get into the grove. Over the past few years it has turned into a kind of haven for travelers looking to escape the real world. The town now has more non-Thai permanent residents then it does Thai. It kind of felt like what San Francisco was like in the 60’s- a bunch of hippies, talking about love and peace, while they puff on their hookah and grow their poppy plants. It was just like the movie ‘The Beach’, except in-land.

We arrived in Chaing Mai yesterday and found a nice room over looking an orchid filled courtyard. We finally have our own bathroom, yeah! We feel like we are ready to move on and are taking a few days here to prepare for India.

Looking back over our time spent in Thailand, the time spent in Mea Sot was the most moving to us. Seeing all the refuge camps and the migrant worker clinic was an eye opener. Though there was not much we could do in the short period we were there. What we have done is educated you, our reader, about the situation in Burma. And that makes one more advocate for the people, which is huge.

The rest of the time traveling the countryside has been good, though more on the surface, compared to the time spent in Mae Sot which was more introspective. We have learned a lot about the Thai culture. They are poor here, compared to American standards, though not as poor as I thought (excluding the Burmese). They are not third world, they are in very many ways a developed nation, though they have developed in a different way then what we Americans are use to. For example many houses have TV’s and satellites, though they live in a simple teak tree house and still cook over an open fire.

It seems like India will be a big eye opener to poverty and culture. As a tourist there traveling will be a lot different. We hear it will not be like a nice little vacation, like Thailand was. You have too be a lot more careful with your belongs there, also the transportation system seems to be not so reliable. Though the Italian couple said that the Indian people are a lot more hospitable and friendly then the Thais, which is hard to imagine. The culture there seems a lot richer. We have visited a lot of the monasteries here in Thailand, but I have not felt a sense of deep religious beliefs coming from their people. I look forward to being enriched in the Indian culture. Though I do not look forward to sweating even more then I have here in Thailand due to the strict dress code for women. Could you imagine me in a sari?

I hope all is well.

Melissa and Jim

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