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...)

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