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Published: December 11th 2017
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After Switzerland, we originally planned to start out in Australia and New Zealand in November/December (spring in the southern hemisphere, so high season), then go to Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, maybe Myanmar, and Indonesia, where we met), then India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and finally make our way to Africa. When we saw the prices for November travel in New Zealand, we changed our plans and decided to see Asia first and only got a one-way ticket to Bangkok.
We left a lot of our things at his dad’s house in Switzerland; we went from about 200 pounds of checked luggage, plus our day bags, down to about 60 pounds total. We also took care of all the chocolate we had bought in Switzerland (we didn’t want it to melt in the heat) so our luggage should be down even more. The temperature in Switzerland was averaging 35 degrees; it felt like about 99 in Bangkok. When we arrived in Bangkok around 7 am, it was already sweltering hot. We’ve been wearing shorts and sometimes flip flops since then. We both grew up and previously lived in hot and muggy places (me, in Cleveland and New York, him, in
Switzerland). But 20 years of living in Seattle have made wusses out of us. We’re really not used to the heat. Flip flops are actually quite practical in Asia, since you need to to take your shoes off in a lot of buildings (including some small stores, most hotels and all temples) and leave them at the entranceway. It’s a pain in the neck to keep tying and untying shoe laces.
We’ve both been to Bangkok before, so we didn’t do much sightseeing, just organizing. We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Hard Rock Cafe; not quite the turkey and stuffing we’re used to, but I was ready for a serious cheeseburger and brownie/sundae.
We flew down to Krabi in southern Thailand to spend some time on the beach. The day we arrived, it was raining there for the first time in weeks, and the forecast for the seven days we were there, plus the next 15 days, included thunderstorms every day. When it rained, it wasn’t a Seattle drizzle but an outright downpour. We were able to get some beach time in most days (although mostly cloud-covered, and hardly any blue sky). We spent some time visiting Pete’s American
friend who packed it all in a few years ago, met his Thai wife, and moved to the beach. Nice.
We then flew to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand. We visited a friend of mine there, who got certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language, quit his job at a law firm in Seattle, also packed it all in, and moved to Thailand. Do you notice a theme here? We met up at a Night Market - lots of souvenir stalls, but also some practical everyday things for locals. And lots of places to eat. As we wandered around, we found a few “ladyboys” dressed up for their performance later that evening. After Pete took my picture, I had to put the ”tip”money down her chest. Pete won’t let me post his picture. Hmmm......
Thailand people are predominantly Buddhist. They worship in temples, and Chiang Mai has several temples. It’s not usually one building, but a complex of buildings. Every Thai male is expected to become a monk for a short period in his life since a family feels blessed when a son ‘takes robe and bowl’ [used to collect alms
and food].
From Chiang Mai, we went to Chiang Rai. If you're active, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are both great places to spend time in and explore. My friend in Chiang Mai does a lot of mountain biking, and there are a lot of trekking opportunities around the area. We did it the easy way, taking a tour to the Golden Triangle. This is where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, like the Four Corners in the U.S., where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet. It was one of Asia’s main opium growing areas, so we went to the Opium Museum, with exhibits explaining the history and production of the plant.
Another part of the tour took us to see a few of the hill tribes in the area. One of these is the “long neck”, or Karen, tribe. One legend has it that girls were being bit in the neck by tigers. In order to protect the girls, they started wearing coils around their necks. We saw a girl of about five years old wearing some of the coils; each year they add more coils, as they get used to the weight, up to 25 pounds.
They can take the coils off to clean, but generally have to wear them the rest of their lives because once they start wearing the coils, the neck can’t support itself without it. Supposedly it doesn’t stretch the necks, but it pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. We came away from this area with mixed feelings. We felt the women were on display, like an exhibit in a zoo, but on the other hand, without the income produced from tourism (you pay an entrance fee to get in, and many women sell hand-woven textiles), the tribe’s culture has a better chance to survive.
We’ve had some great food in Thailand. The motto in the tropics is “if you can’t boil it, peel it, or cook it, then forget it.” Which leaves out foods like tomatoes and lettuce. There are plenty of pineapples, coconuts, bananas, watermelon, etc.; some restaurants give pineapple and watermelon slices as a digestive after the meal, to clean out the palette. They also have lots of fruit shakes; my favorite - mixed pineapple, watermelon and banana - a nice melange of flavors. Pete likes coconut juice, straight out of the coconut. In
the South, I got a fresh orchid on almost every drink I had. I ate a lot of fried rice with chicken or tofu; he’s been more adventurous, trying out squid from different restaurants. He doesn’t have a favorite beer yet - but Singha is his favorite so far.
And on to Laos ...
There’s two pages on this post - lots of pictures!!
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Andrea Gennotti
non-member comment
Love the photos, thanks for keeping all of us in the adventurous loop of your travels. I'm trying to imagine sleeping with those neck coils. Unpleasant!