Thai Beach Retreat

I have never considered myself much of a beach person per se. The thought of laying in the wrinkle-inducing sun, staring at the waves of the turquoise sea as they crash on to the sandy beach always sounded quite boring. However, I am finding that I don't really mind this at all and, in fact, I may downright love it. My bungalow community is full of interesting people, there is a library for beach goers (mostly a sea of "chick lit" like Gossip Girl and nouveau Harlequin Romance type stuff, but I managed to fish out some Vonnegut as well as a well-seasoned copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance), and there is a great restaurant down the path that serves up some delicious seafood dishes, as well as any other type of fare you could possibly want. My IPod is full of good tunes, beach bag stocked with copious amounts of sunscreen and I am ready to dock myself for a while in Thailand, both in Ko Samet and later, in the south, in Ko Tao. I really should soak it up as, back in Seattle, I'll have to settle for my little sun lamp and will wish I'd never left this paradise.


Ko Samet Vs. Seattle
(It's going to be tough going back to a Seattle winter...)

Angkor Wat & The Temples of Cambodia

Ta Prohm
Bayon
Ankor Wat

Angkor Wat was a remarkable sight to behold. Everyone told me to be certain to see it at sunrise, so I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to get there and watched as the temple emerged from the darkness. I agree... it's definitely the way to see it! However, Angkor Wat was not my favorite of all the temples, rather, it was Bayon (which is part of Angkor Thom) followed by Ta Prohm (where apparently the film Tomb Raider was shot) as a very close second. At Bayon, you climb up the very steep stairs of the temple to find these beautiful carvings of faces in the enormous stones that make up the temple structure. Ta Prohm was the most interesting to explore as every turn revealed gorgeous buildings, some of which had become entwined with Banyon trees, which were elaborately adorned with carvings. The carvings were sometimes Hindu or, at other times, Buddhist depending on when the temple was built. The temples were absolutely awe-inspiring!

Earling Morning Offering- Chiang Mai

There are few things I would wake up before five in the morning to see. The early morning offering to the monks is one of them. The night before, a few of us travelers accompanied the owner of the guesthouse we were staying in to a huge shopping complex reminiscent of those in the States which felt exactly like a WalMart, sans the ubiquitous yellow smiley faces. Since it is customary in these offerings to provide the monks with dry foods, as they are light and easy to carry, I bought an enormous box of Ramen Noodles (their Thai equivalent actually) in the hope that dropping these packets of salty, shrimp flavored goodness would give me a small boost in the ol' karma department. This particular offering was special as it landed on the morning after the full moon, however it is common to see monks being given food by devout Buddhists as they largely subsist on the charity of the people.

I was glad to have taken part in the ceremony and this particular morning was, in fact, the highlight of my time in Chiang Mai. By choice, I really didn't do much else there. I could have gone trekking or riding on the elephants but I wasn't interested as I've done those things (save for riding the elephants as I'm saving that for India) in Vietnam and Laos. However I am sure, as they say in Thailand, that it's "same, same but different" there. After a month of travel including four countries, five flights, numerous trains and countless white-knuckle tuk-tuk and motorbike rides, I was ready to chill out and process all that I had seen and done. I was talking with some other travelers and we all agreed that, if a person doesn't have some downtime,all of the rich and varied experiences of travel will become but a blur. That, of course, is also true of life in general. I don't forget for one moment how fortunate I am to have this opportunity to escape from the ordinary, everyday (albeit generally happy) life I live, experience different cultures, open my mind up, shift some paradigms around and afford myself a little bit of head space in the hope that, like the lotus flower, I will emerge from this experience different from before.

Cook, Eat, Repeat

I have been so excited to get to Thailand, in part to see some amazing sights, but also to eat some of my favorite food. There is nothing tastier than the pad thai that the street vendors sell! I decided to take a cooking course while I am here to learn a new skill to bring home with me. I found the best cooking school here in Chaing Mai called Baan Thai where I spent several hours cooking, eating and visiting with other tourists. It was a wonderful day full of learning and gluttony! As for the calories, I'll burn those off exploring Angkor Wat as I leave for there in a day.
Green Curry
Coconut Seafood Soup
Spring Rolls

Ever So Lovely, Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, in Laos, is hands down one of my favorite stops in SE Asia. It is unbelievably chilled out (no excessive motor bike traffic here), the people are lovely, and everywhere you turn there are fantastic photo opportunities. I could have spent much longer here and hope that if I return someday it doesn't lose the peaceful atmosphere that I love so much. I spent a couple of days trekking and kayaking, the highlights of which were stumbling upon an elephant working in the forest and playing with all of the kids in the village we visited (see the picture of the boy we dubbed "Bat Man" as he was playing with a dead bat-which he kindly offered to let me hold, but I didn't- and sported his bat mask crafted from a plastic container). Of course I can't forget to mention the friends I've made along the way. I can't believe I ever worried about feeling alone and bored on this trip!

Vientiane

(1)Pha That Luang- The Quintessential Symbol of Laos
(2)Buddha at Buddha Park
(3)Curious Little Girls at Buddha Park

Leftovers of War

I visited the Lao National History Museum today with the expectations that it would be fairly interesting, but not that it would bring me to the brink of tears. The exhibition went through the prehistoric times, era of Dutch exploration and trading, French occupation before leading up to the time in which the "American Imperialists and their Puppets" had a presence (mid 60's - early 70's). The photos on the walls depicted people killed,affected by Napalm,children missing limbs, temples destroyed, beaten up prionsers of war, etc. Of course I knew a bit about this history and how all of the country's actions were rationalized as part of preventing the "domino effect" spreading of communism within this region. However, knowing the story and seeing the reality are two entirely different things. I walked out feeling a mixture of shame and sadness, yet grateful that there are musuems like this to preserve history. However, it's not all just in the past as there are people still living with the physical and emotional scars as well as bombs (dubbed UXO's or UXB's) in this region still undetected which pose a horrible threat to the people here. This article explains more on the subject. I don't completely agree with the comment of our ambassador made in the article. While I agree that it makes more sense to spend time dealing with cleaning up the problems versus pointing fingers, I do believe a sincere apology should be given to the innocent people who, to this day, are being impacted. That is essentially the message that I left in the guestbook as I left the museum this afternoon.

Pictures