TravelStream™ news feed for member everywhere on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/everywhere en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 20 May 2009 16:47:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/everywhere/1/1242851400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/everywhere/1/1242851400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/everywhere/1/1242851400/tpod.html Wed, 20 May 2009 16:47:11 -0400 Everywhere and Anywhere. It's the journey.

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Vancouver, Canada

When it is sunny and warm in Vancouver, it ranks up there as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I lucked out and got one of those days to land into. Plus, it was a lovely surprise to see my friend Elaine waiting with Val and Lyle - Elaine flew in from Calgary so it was unexpected. It is good to work for an airline!!!! Arrived around 11 am and was flying out at 5:30 pm. Just a few hours in Vancouver.
On the drive to White Rock for lunch it was great to see the lushness of the landscape, the profusion of the Rhododendrons and the tulips and all that makes Vancouver so special. I was pretty whacked by this time so couldn't really enjoy the fabulous buffet Val had prepared but it was so nice to see old friends again. New friends are just old friends waiting to ripen....it is with old friends you have so much history, and that comfort level is hard to match. You know they like you even though they know you!!!!
We didn't have much time for more than lunch and one Show Home to view - it is what we do......til back to the airport - this time with a buddy to wait with. Elaine caught West Jet and I waited for Air Canada. She was waiting at the Calgary airport for me when my plane arrived in Calgary. I think it had been nearly 48 hours since leaving Bangkok and I was definitely feeling it.
She dropped me off at home around 8 pm, I stayed up til midnight visiting with my friend Josie before hitting my bed around midnight. Amazingly I slept 17.5 hours straight!!!!! Woke up at 5:30 pm, dizzy and light headed. OK, dizzier and more light-headed than normal. Once I ate I was OK and ready to take on the night shift and start the unpacking and the gentle reentry into real life.......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
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Seoul, Korea Rep.

Regretfully left the lovely palace apartment in Bangkok around 8 pm to ensure I would be at the airport at least 3 hours before my flight at midnight. Traffic in Bangkok is so unpredictable you have to factor in wait times anywhere you go. As luck would have it, no traffic and a rocket fueled taxi: I arrived at the airport in a short 30 minutes leaving me over three extra hours to add to my already 45 hour trip home!!!! I guess if you have to wait in an airport, Bkk airport is one of the ones I would chose. First, it is stunningly beautiful. The architecture is incredible and everything is new. Most of all are the travelers. It is a hub for the Asian world so you see lots of Saudis and Arabs in their best dahabs and glitter, many eastern Europeans criss crossing through, people of all Asian descents going everywhere on connecting flights, and then all those sex tourists saying goodbye to heir long term and short term rentals. Two Brits I met in Pattaya at the bus station shared with me their experience when I asked them why they were at the station alone. Where were their rentals? They told me that years of experience had taught them never to bring a rental to a bus station or airport or you would not even have money for a drink on the plane or the station bar. The girls would either tell you such sad stories to clean you out of any cash you might be left with, or just help themselves to your pockets - either way they had left broke too often.

From the looks of the airport there were many learning the lessons. Whole families accompanied the rentals to the airport to have the tear filled goodbyes. Some had obviously been before as they left their girlfriends and their young children behind probably to return to their wives and their older children back in Britain or Canada or Russia. Lots to see. Except by the time I got on the plane at midnight I was already tired from an already long day as well as a long last week in Bangkok.

My inability to sleep on planes or buses is truly a detriment. At least I am not puking but I do envy those who get on and are asleep before takeoff. The one thing about not sleeping is that occasionally, if you have a clear night, you get to see some cool things. This night was amazing. I think the nicest views I have ever seen, at night, from an airplane. It was clear with a half moon and we flew at 37000 feet, first over Vietnam and then over China. I could see each city below and the density of the cities and towns and the strings of lights was really beautiful. I was able to check the map on the computer on the seat back and follow the flight plan and remember many of the Vietnamese cities and the Chinese landscape and that was really special. As we started over the ocean, it remained crystal clear and you could see the uninhabited islands and the craggy rocks jutting out of the sea and imagine how it must be for those who do the around the world voyages by sailboat or ship. From the air it is possible to capture the interconnectedness of the globe and how big, yet small it really is. I can only imagine that it is these nights that pilots really appreciate their chosen profession. Then the woman, who had had the window seat on takeoff and who had relocated, decided to return, in the middle of the night to reclaim it. I relinquished it, but did manage to give her the 3am Hairy Eyeball - are you kidding me??? look as I had to slump back to my aisle seat. I was glad to have seen what I had though and she had a crappy sleep anyway.

Arrived In Seoul, tired and feeling like shit around 7:30 am. Got off the plane, ditched my day pack and figured out how to find the train into the city as I had 11 hours to kill before flying out at 6:30 pm. Found the train station, took the train into Seoul which took about 1.5 hours and emerged from the underground (after a few transfers), to a cold and dreary Sunday in the middle of Seoul. It felt so cold to me since I had come from sweltering heat. So, out came the trusty down jacket that had been my great friend for four months - both as a vessel of warmth in China and Vietnam but also as a fabulous pillow everyday of the trip. I found a hop on - hop off type of bus and decided on that as I had such a short time and it was so cold and I was feeling pretty miserable and tired. I really wished I had chosen to come back home through Japan instead of Korea.....next time.
The hop on - hop off bus Seoul style has much to be desired and is in dire need of updating. Rather surprising as the last time (long, long time ago) I was in Seoul, it was pretty metropolitan. Seems like those other Asian tigers - especially Malaysia and Singapore, have roared past poor Korea. The streets were drab and I was glad it was Sunday so the traffic was light. Koreans are unique all to themselves. Even 25 years ago they all wore face masks but now, with the swine flu, they wear bizarro custom masks. I should note that I was one of the few on any of the flights I was on without a mask. Asians, everywhere, love surgical masks. They even have designer ones!!!!
In Seoul, image is everything so men, even on Sundays are in three piece suits and ties and the women are in Leisure suits with matching face shields and masks. And gloves. They are obsessed with staying white and not allowing sunshine to reach their skin. Everyone was out walking for exercises in fancy leisure suits, track suits, gortex, etc with every accessory on known to man. Love gadgets.
Because it was cold and drab and brown it looked cold and drab and brown. Not like where I had been. I was on my way back. Cruised around unimpressed and took the train back to the airport and got back onto the plane filled with masked non surgeons for another 11 hours. Yikes I wished I could sleep. Watched a couple of movies - The Reader and Revolutionary Road - loved them both, and ate and ate, anything coming by because I was so bored and tired. Just wanted this part of the journey to be over.

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Lombongan, Indonesia

Lombongan is another island close to Bali and I headed over there with a friend from Flashback's. It was more of what I like in a destination - slow, rural, not even an ATM on the island, yet very interesting island life, gorgeous beaches, crystal clear turquoise water and spectacular sunsets. Indonesia is really famous for diving because of the diversity under the water. The water is really clear and the coral reefs are easily visible from the surface. It is a surfers destination and I really enjoyed sitting, for hours, beachfront, watching surfers tackle the big waves. What athletic ability!!!!
I have been lucky enough to snorkel some of the best reefs all over the world and have always refused to dive. The hassle of the tanks and mostly the lack of control one has when fully under the water have kept me on the top all these years...... What would your life be like if you lived without fear????? I kept repeating that as I came up with a million excuses not to dive and I was pleased with myself for pushing my comfort zone and I DOVE!!! Or is it, I DIVED????
Either way, my new buddy Joshua, talked me into trying it as he had taught diving for 15 years and knew the area we were in: he insisted I try it as the underwater stuff here was to be worth it. Josh lives here in Indonesia for 6 months, the other 6 months in Japan. We rented a boat and gear and I did it!!! Wild! I now get it - yes it is different (way better) than snorkeling and we were able to see some spectacular coral mountains, amazing colors, cool fish of all sizes and shapes. Truly magical. I swam under a huge school of pretty big fish and saw so many beautiful things.
Janice and Val - I get why it is your passion.
The sunsets on the island were amazing as you can see from the pics. The color changes as the sun set against big thunder heads was stunning and the sky was always changing. As soon as the sun set. the sky cleared and the stars in the milky was resembled the northern lights - streaks of heavy white, laden with stars.
This island is one and a half hours from the island of Bali and Sunday morning I hopped the 8 am public boat back to the big island to stay for one night before flying off early Monday morning to fly to Kuala Lumpur for a night and then off the next day on to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. As I write this I am on the plane and have had no access to news for the last 10 days to know what the situation may be in Thailand. A woman boarding with me told me that there has been continuing trouble in the streets, a state of emergency at one time and continued belief that this trouble will have a long future. My hope is that tourists are staying away so that it will be quieter. Thai New Year has just ended and that is a huge deal and it is really sad to see Thailand suffer with so much uncertainty. I know when Janice and I were in the south, the government had blocked a lot of access on the internet so it might be difficult to get a lot of unbiased news when I get there tomorrow.
I am glad I came to Indonesia, specifically Bali, as it will be remembered for my first diving experience, yet the country, as much as I saw of it, was not how I imagined. Way more crowded and it is not yet the busy season! That starts is June as the surfers and divers come from Australia to escape their winter. I can't say I loved it - it is beautiful but too much traffic everywhere for me.
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Bangkok, Thailand

I am in Bangkok now for the last leg of this journey and loving every bit of this city. It is loud and grimy and polluted and the traffic is horrendous but for some reason I love it here. I loved it at the beginning of my trip, right after China, and I love it even more 4 months later. It is like New York on crack. They say NY never sleeps, but remember a few years ago I had the pleasure of working there, night shifts with an undercover NYPD team! What a blast that was. Having seen inside NYC at all times of the day and night, I can say that Bangkok blows it away by truly being a 24 hour megopolis: every street teeming with humanity - and then at dusk, the streets change. It seems that every square inch of every sidewalk fills with either sellers or buyers. Tiny little stalls, often as small as a coke crate or a mini hibachi, set up to hawk food, clothes, house wares, puppies last night, stereo and computers - you name it, it is for sale on every block. The hawkers call out; the beggars lay around asking for money, little kids play musical instruments and the blind and disabled cruise around with mini karaoke boxes, belting out terrible Thai love songs into the hot damp night air. It is so great - I love it all. AND, to top it all off, the icing on my last week in Asia......I am in a beautiful apartment hotel. Absolutely beautiful, full river view from my balcony: I can see the barges go up the river, the tour boats and the water taxis zig zaggng back and forth. I am in a stunning apartment with full kitchen and washer/dryer and marble bathroom and and and....no joke, it is so great I don't even want to leave the gigantic pool or marble hallways until nighttime to catch the street action. Laura and Sharon - so much for making fun of me about my incessant researching.....it paid off on this one!!!. It is much more expensive than I am used to paying, but then again everything will be for the rest of my life. I think it will be hard to find nice $5 night places again. This deal ($50) I found on my new favorite website...latestays.com - add it you junkies - it is a worldwide last minute site and it works well. This place is both on the Skytrain and on the river taxi route- a big deal for Bangkok because the traffic is so nasty. The last few mornings, I have been like a princess....down for breakfast/brunch - included. Five star buffet of Thai entrees, salad bar, fresh baked croissants, cakes, egg station etc etc....amazing restaurant overlooking the pool area, then out to have a swim in the rain, then a quick sauna.....ohhhhh!!! . I really will find it hard to leave this place, or hand it over to Janice. Sharon/Laura - this is a must do for your last week. They have 2 more weeks than I have. Seems like we will all be gone by the first week in June. Maybe all to return next winter???????
Remember Janice? Some of you wondered...what happened to Janice - the girl who came over to meet me a couple of months ago. We did the southern Thai islands together, then headed to Malaysia and did the Cameron Highlands (tea plantations etc) and she went east to dive some more before heading to Borneo - which I had said I would go until I learned about those nasty leeches. Since then she has been diving, diving and more diving in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. She too extended her ticket and she is slated to arrive here in my little Shangri La on Friday night, late. I have hardly heard from her as she has been doing the remote thing - I think she may have climbed Mt. Kinabulu Borneo - the highest peak in Malaysia. I leave late Saturday night; she leaves a couple of days after me. We will get to have Saturday together to catch up, and what we can't finish we shall resume at home. Story swapping - should be fun and I know she is not ready to leave here either. This is her second time around and she wasn't able to stay away.
Speaking of updates, I think I wrote - I haven't gone back to read or see my pictures of anything yet, about the amazing Australian women (Hilary) I met in Cambodia. We did a few days in disgusting Sihanoukville together. Hilary was travelling through SE Asia a few years ago with her 15 year old son, went through Cambodia, continued on to other countries but was drawn back to the plight of the Cambodians. She went home, wanted to do something, and together with her sister in law, returned to Phenom Pehn and set up a little house to receive girls from NGO's who were working to rescue trafficked girls. These girls are sold, often by their parents, to traffickers who use them in the sex trade. They become sex slaves and are held captive so they cannot run away. It is a horrible life and some NGO's have been making inroads in catching and prosecuting the traffickers. It is difficult because it is a worldwide network: huge profits, especially with children and often the police and the government officials are involved in the big business/corruption part, so when girls are actually rescued, they are at considerable risk during the prosecution phase. This phase can take a long time so these girls need to be in safe houses where they can recover physically and emotionally enough to testify. Hilary's little organization had 8 girls, aged 8 to 14 living in a house she rented, cared for by Cambodian staff she hired. She was paying for it through donations from various churches in her community and she brings groups of interested folks over to Cambodia a few times a year to see the need and see where their fundraising efforts are going.
Two of the girls are sisters, sold by their parents because of extreme poverty. Hilary's program attempts to keep the kids in contact with their families by arranging supervised visits. As with most of the sex workers in every country, they come from the very poor rural areas so visiting is difficult, dangerous and expensive.
I heard from Hilary this week as she has been following my blog and wants to try and do some of the countries I have done, in the style I have done it (backpacking and alone). Her husband does not like to travel and she is passionate about it so she was writing me for advice. She did tell me some good news and I don't think she will mind if I just cut and paste part of her email because I think it is worth sharing. I have told many about her program as illustrates what impact one person can make....
All is going great with our home & I probably mentioned we work closely with the girls families where possible with the goal of being able to safely re-integrate them one day. We have 2 girls that are sisters & their Mum & Dad & 2 siblings are homeless & live on the streets at the riverfront & send the children to beg from the tourists. The family were originally from the provinces & were farmers & 3 years ago one of the children got sick & had to be bought to PP to go to hospital The family had no way to pay the bill & it was suggested to them to try begging on the riverfront. They did & never left. We just re-located that family from the streets into a small rented room & are assisting them to earn money to become self sufficient. We have started the micro-enterprise of the "It's Not OK" bracelets (think I showed them to you) & have taught her & pay her for each one she makes. We are helping the Dad to find work as a building labourer. I visited them in their new place the week after we moved them & couldn't not believe the change in them. The Mum looked 10 years younger & was so beautiful with this big beaming smile & even had lipstick on!! Big jump in her self worth! This family has been coming to church every Sunday for the last 6 months and we pick up any of the girls families that want to come. The Dad told me through a translator that he has stopped drinking & gambling since coming to church & is now so much happier!! Has been amazing to see the start of the transformation in this little family's lives & can't wait till we can re-integrate their girls back as well. That has been the highlight of my year!!!

I am taking a team of girls over at the beginning of June & then again in August. I am planning a stopover in Phuket on the way home in June as never been to any of the beaches in Thailand, just up north to Chiang Mai. Heard some good & bad about it but will just have to check it out myself!
I should add that many of the women who have come with her to see the realities of the Cambodian experience, come back and volunteer at her house for a short or long stint. They too are moved and want to help.
Pretty cool huh?
I intend to write more about Mae Sot and how it was that I was able to be so well connected in such a short time - to get ''inside' as they say. It was another lucky/karmic meeting with the daughter (nursing student Cheryl from Red Deer) who too was in Mae Sot for her first time, seeing the work her Dad (farmer from Prince Albert) has been able to do for the Burmese in 6 short years. Cheryl's Dad, Dave, has left, and continues to work on leaving, an incredible impact on thousands of Burmese refugees' lives in the Mae Sot area. Talk about one man's legacy!!!! I saw what he has built (a beautiful school for 650 students, 250 who are orphans and live on campus) and I was fortunate to see part of his vision (he just bought a chunk of land and is going to have the students farm it to make the school self sustaining: we saw the pond dug for the fish farm - it will be stocked in a month and will provide fish for the kids to eat). Like Hilary, he travelled through, saw a need, went home and thought about it and then got to work. Like Sandra van den Brink in Guatemala. My heroes. Real action.
Speaking of home, it seems like I will have some company soon. One girl I met on the bus in Cambodia just wrote me this week to tell me she has been travelling all over Canada - was in Banff skiing, out to Vancouver Island and is now in Ontario on her way to the Maritimes. She is from France, doing an around the world trip and has seen more of Canada then most Canadians. She wanted to see the mountains in summer so will be coming back through just in time for Stampede!!!! She didn't know about Stampede so it will be fun to share that with her and she can stay with me. Seems I may have a house full as I also invited others from around the globe to stay. And my friend who has been house sitting for me is also staying for a bit.....hmmmm, thank God for my big garage, the travelers will be happy camping in the yard or the garage I am sure!!!! Cheap rates and access to a washer/dryer more than make up for the lack of private accommodation. Imagine how expensive travel in Canada is compared to most of the rest of the world. The lack of cheap accommodation and huge distances between sites makes it nearly impossible for most around-the-worlders to include Canada on their agenda. Another family I met in Vietnam, also from France - near Paris, is coming through Calgary in August. Again, small world story, but I was having dinner with the mom (Clementine) and her brother (Henry) and the mom's son ( Aymeric) in Vietnam. We had met on the night bus the night before. Clementine and I laughed all night long instead of sleeping. We were trying to communicate in Franglish - she had more English than I had French. Clementine and Henry are children of Vietnamese parents (boat people) and had left Vietnam when they were quite young. They had returned to Vietnam for a relative's wedding and Clementine had brought her oldest son. At dinner they learned I was from Alberta. Clementine puts her hand into her purse and whips out a map of Alberta !!!!! What are the chances for a French/Vietnamese tourist to be carrying an Alberta map? Seems Aymeric was heading to Alberta soon after he got home from his Vietnam trip. Although he had grown up a city kid, he always wanted to be a farmer/rancher so he studied agriculture in university and had gotten a coop position to learn/work on a gigantic dairy farm in Alberta Canada. Mom had been carrying the map around, trying to get her head around her kid leaving to go somewhere where he knew no one. I thought I would have been home by the time he was to arrive...that was before I extended my stay, so I offered to be his Canadian contact. Long story - he has adapted well in Alberta and mom and the rest of the family - Dad and two younger brothers are coming in August to see Banff and Jasper and northern Alberta where Aymeric lives.
So, only a few more days here before making the long journey home. I leave here at midnight Friday night, fly to Seoul Korea, arriving around 7 am. I plan to beeline into Seoul for the day, blitz a walking tour and see how much it has changed since the last time I was there over 20 years ago, zip back to the airport to fly out around 5pm to Vancouver, landing in Vancouver 10 or 12 hours later around 11:25 am Vancouver time, hope to meet up with Val Bouie for lunch, leave Vancouver 6 hours later, arriving in Calgary at 8:25 pm......Sunday night. Nearly 48 hours of travel. Just think how many interesting people I can meet in 48 hours!!!
I will take pictures of Seoul and post them. My memories of Seoul are that it looked very much like Calgary. We were there in the winter so this should be nicer. It has the same geography and latitude as Calgary - and therefore the same weather. Beautiful mountain backdrop like the Rockies, central urban core of high-rises....except.......zillions of people, no cowboy hats. Stay tuned.
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Pattaya, Thailand

Working on the reintegration plan. For those of you who have been here - Pattaya probably seems like an odd choice considering all the other great places in Thailand. For those who haven't - Pattaya is to Thailand what Tijuana is to Mexico. Neither is very representative of their countries. I did spend a fun day into night a few years ago in Tijuana, but was all to happy to walk back across the border into San Diego when it got dark. Pattaya is like that, although it is creepy even in the daylight. It is a the closest beach community to Bangkok, a city of a zillion, so it has huge weekend traffic of Thais who escape the summer heat to flock to the beach on the weekends. That is the good part. The creepy part is that it is a mecca for package tour sex tourism so every big fat westerner comes here to buy flesh - male and female. It is really cheap because of the dearth of tourists resultant from the Thai political problems and exacerbated by the downturn in the economy. Seems that even the sex starved creeps have felt the pinch as there was hundreds of girls and lady boys ( male Thais who are trans gender - often with new parts, some who just dress up as women) sitting around on the beach front on their straw mats calling out to everyone walking by. It is definitely bargain basement time.
Why Pattaya for me, knowing what it was all about? Well, as I wind down, I am getting lazy about the travel and I wanted the beach for my last few days before Bangkok as I need also to escape the heat. I lucked out, and with about 10 hours of Internet research, found a pretty good hotel in a great location, considering the choices here. I am staying in Jomtein - an upscale part of Pattaya: Pattaya is a really big City as well. This particular beach prides itself on being less 'sex trade' as the others so I gave it a go. Pattaya/Jomtein is only a couple of hour outside of Bangkok so it was easy to get to - no more boat trips for me this trip - and easy to get back into the City.

The Hotel I chose is primarily Thai, very few Westerners stay here and that is good: It is across from the beach and also has a nice pool, is a trade up to what I am used to so the reintegration back to amenities begins. It has been very quiet through the first few days and now really busy on the weekend. The interesting thing about Thais and water is, like most Asians, they don't know how to swim and they do know how to bring huge amounts of picnic stuff to the beach. Also, like most Asians, they do not wear bathing suits. No, not nude or semi nude like the Europeans, they wear all their clothes. Yup - women wear tshirts and jeans or shorts and men wear jeans or shorts and often their shirts. I remember how weird that was a few months ago but now it almost seems normal. More here than anywhere else, I think because of the wealth, women who don't wear their street clothes wear these horrible bathing outfits. They range from wet suit types of getup's, made from that Lycra fabric, but not tight obviously to long sleeve knee length dresses with long pants underneath made from the same nylon Lycra. Speedo even has a whole line in all the stores. I do remember the first time in Egypt seeing whole families at the beach, women in full burkas, some wading or attempting not to drown, others sitting in the intense heat with their husbands who were in swim trunks. I think here another reason for no bathing suits is the obsessive desire to be whiter than you were born. Every second advertisement is for whitening cremes or surgical bleaching of skin ala Micheal Jackson. Whiter means prettier in Asia.
So here I am, frolicking in my bikini, attracting probably not the nicest looks but at least I am not buying their sons or daughters. The kids love me and think I am a superhero because I can swim. Yesterday I tried to teach a family of two little girls and their brother (who is in the Military - first year, about 18 years old)
to swim in the ocean. The boy had some English and loved to chat and the girls loved learning to float. As always, Mom and Auntie wanted to know a) where was my husband, b) where were my children and c) how old I was. These are the standard questions that come up within 5 minutes of being around any Asian women. It is so foreign to be on one's own as a woman. Obviously, looking at all the sex tourists, Thais and Japanese and Chinese included, it is not odd for your husband to take his vacation and leave you with the kids...... hmmmm, guess it is not something open for discussion.
The water is actually too warm to be very refreshing. It is a very shallow beach so the water stays at hot bathtub water temperature and I could not even swim far enough out to find cool currents. Ahh the stressors!

So next stop, last stop, Bangkok. Truly back into the noise and the traffic and the pollution and the heat. I plan to shop and relax and rest up for the long journey home.
If any of you want something brought home, movies, games, Gucci bags, Rolexes, etc, let me know - I am going to buy another bag and fill it up so I should have room for small stuff.
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Mae Sot, Thailand

Can a week change your life?
If that week, or 10 days for me, was spent in Mae Sot, then it absolutely can.
I last wrote about my first day at school. learning to drive a motorbike and just getting chucked into a routine that was not mine.
In the last few days I have been far too everything to write: too busy, too amazed, too happy, too sad, too tired and too overwhelmed to do much more than just take it in to process at another time.
10 days in Mae Sot included:
spending 10 days with some of the nicest people in the world,
tolerating some of the hottest weather on earth,
enjoying five days at the most joyful school I have ever been in,
witnessing the kindest children willing to share everything they have with one another and us,
seeing the arrival of 30 new children on the last day of school, shell-shocked and terrified having been just smuggled in over the mountain through the night before, to a place that might be their new home forever or for a week until they have to flee somewhere else,
seeing children shaken to the core when a balloon burst because they are used to gunfire,
receiving gifts of barrettes and love notes and drawings and bracelets from children whose only personal possessions were those items,
being asked by my big boy students to never forget them,
witness to a large population living on the City dump - yes on top of the dump so they can quickly access plastics as they are dumped for resale to recyclers, the worst living conditions I have ever seen,
watching one of our Monk students getting his paperwork telling him he will be going to the USA, by himself, in two weeks - pure joy, relief and fear at the same time as the reality set in,
sneaking into the free clinic for illegal's and seeing the surgery unit and the absolute deplorable conditions the volunteer medical students and nurses are working in, hoping their presence is making a difference to those with no choices,
seeing and learning what coconut penis' is, (self inflicted but incredibly nasty),
touring a 53,000 person refugee camp with two of the locals and seeing what 25 years of refugee life looks like, then staying overnight in the neighboring village with those who have escaped the camp,
seeing a hillside at the refugee camp dotted with Buddhist temples, Christian churches and Hindu Mosques,
meeting dedicated people from all over the world who have been touched by the plight of the Burmese and are working for change here in Mae Sot, one case at a time,
seeing a dying baby in the mother or grandmothers arms as she sat on the side of the street,
learning about things happening in Burma that can't be shared here,
seeing the daily trading of thousands of sapphires and rubies on the street in front of the real gem trading centers,
seeing opium/betel nut/ snacks be sold from street carts,
sharing delicious evening meals, that with drink, cost less than $1.00,
And finding all of this in a town that has two 7-11's and a popcorn machine!!!!! Everything I need in life.
I could go on and on about what I have been lucky enough to see in Mae Sot but I couldn't put it into words. I hope some of these pictures will give you a glimpse. I think, to most of you, much of this will look sad and bleak. The conditions are sad, but the people are very happy. There is more singing and laughing here, more sharing and more joy then I see in my world at home. Everywhere: the schools, the dump, the camps, people were singing, wanting to share with us what they had, sometimes they only had songs to give us; the gift of music, sometimes it was food, and always it was thanks for coming. Not once, in 10 days, did anyone ask me for money.
What these people have that many of us at home do not, is time. They are not rushed, they are calm. They are not in a race to fill their lives with more stuff or more activities. Most are Buddhists and they live in the moment, accept what they have and where they are, yet still try and make merit everyday by doing something good.
Mae Sot has taught be many things. It will take a while to figure out what they are.

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Mae Sot, Thailand

I made it to my first day of school intact. The drive, my first on a motorcycle as driver, went through Mae Sot, out onto the freeway then off into the country side. The area we are in is beautiful in a very gentle way. Rolling mountains meet sugar cane and rice paddies, both just in the tilling stage as the heat of summer is at its peak and the rains are expected any day now. It really is stiflingly hot. Most days the heat feels like a full force furnace when you come out of a building, other days it is so steamy, it feels like walking, fully clothed, into a steam room. Either way, I am dripping in sweat most of the day.
There is really no way to escape the oppressive heat, even on the motorbike. Slowing for a traffic light means the breeze stops and the intensity of the sun envelopes you. The route through the countryside is absolutely lovely: winding S curves, through villages, around dogs and cows and bicycles and farm equipment. Past temples and forests and open fields and over every type of roadway possible, all in one trip. In the city the roads are clogged with vehicles, out on the freeway, trucks and the occasional bus and minivan, and in the country, both hard packed gravel and just plain hole- pocked dirt roads.
For the neophyte biker, it would be a great place to learn how to maneuver across all these types of terrain. For the neophyte biker who is on a tight timeline and has anxious kids waiting, there is little time to feel much other than terror, trying to figure out how to turn, when to steer and when to lean, and how to ensure braking and accelerating are separate actions.
By the time I made it to school the first day, I was exhausted and just wanted time to savor my accomplishment at having just learned to ride in extreme circumstances. What I found at the school( I hadn't even given any thought about what I might see there as I had only the energy to become obsessed with getting there the minute I learned I would have to rent the bike and drive it 35 minutes without any skills), soon made the fears about the ride home seem far away. The three of us got off our bikes and were immediately swarmed by the students. Sharon had already been teaching two weeks on her own, Laura had joined her the week before, and now I was there to do something. The Thai school year runs from June through March. April and May, because of the extreme heat, are school holidays - summer holidays for Thai schools. Our little school runs summer school because it is not a regular school. For displaced Burmese, there is nothing regular or for sure in their lives.
Mae Sot straddles the Thai- Burma border and has been home to millions of Burmese refugees, the first having fled the brutal regime in 1984 - the year I was first here. Those early years, 84 through to the late 80's saw the creation, by the UN, of refugee camps, up and down the border, on the Thai side. The hope back then was to save the millions fleeing and find resettlement for them in developed countries. The Thai government donated the land and the camps grew and grew and grew. The last 30 years in Burma have seen Human Rights violations unseen in even the most undemocratic countries. Persecutions by the government have resulted in the country being locked down from 1962 to 1983. In 1984 I was with some of the first tourists into the country after 21 years of no contact with the outside world. I remember today the gentleness of the people and the difficulty of the travel for us. Women and children asked to touch Leslies and my hair and skin as they had not seen anyone that looked like us. No television, no media, no contact for twenty years combined with a trade embargo left a whole generation in a time warp. It was a highlight of my travel history and remains so today. The country enjoyed a brief couple of years of seemingly stable times until the uprising that saw the government overthrow their elected leader, daughter of the assassinated previous democratic leader. At that time students took to the streets in protest and there were mass killings and mass detentions and once again the country closed and the leader was exiled. She returned to Burma after a few years and continues under house arrest today. Two years, 2007, there were mass protests and the Monks (Burma is kind of the Holy Land for Buddhists), joined with the protesters for the first time ever. It is still unknown how many Monks and protesters were killed in that uprising. Once again the crack down on the people saw mass imprisonments and torture. Just one year ago yesterday, Burma was hit by a cyclone that killed over 150,000 people and displaced over 2.5 million. It is still unknown where the aid money that was collected globally went as the government ousted foreign reporters after the last uprising and refused to allow them back in to cover the cyclone devastation. Add to all of this a civil war, between two factions of the same tribe being actively fought 10 kms from here in the jungle, and you have more sad stories and more need than you could imagin
About 10? years ago, the Thai government tried to get out of the refugee business here on the border as the costs to the Thais are astronomical. The refugees continue to flee persecution, coming through the jungle, over the mountains, and arrive on the Thai side of the river. Many NGO's have been around here for decades but the need does not subside. The UN continues to support the camps, which have now become permanent settlements after 25 years, and the number of Burmese being absorbed by the developed world shrinks as other parts of the world come into favor and the global appetite for refugees' wanes. If it was a country song - It would include "" A whole lot of hurtin"going on around here""
I realize lots of you didn't want a history lesson of the region, but it is very confusing and necessary to have some basics to understand why all of these kids are here, without parents, and unable to leave. The city of Mae Sot has an arbitrary border, imposed by the Thai government I think, that allows illegal Burmese to be in the area, but they are unable to leave beyond the borders as the Police and Military have checkpoints on all the roads and are constantly checking papers. If you are checked without papers outside of the Mae Sot borders, you are arrested and either deported back into Burma where may be arrested by the Burmese or fined with large fees they do not have. The real refugees who hold Un refugee status cards are not allowed to even leave their camps. They cannot come into town, they are not allowed out of the camp even to go on the road. The camps are huge - multiple camps with 50 to 60 thousand refugees living multigenerations in a defined space, no jobs, no freedom. It is no wonder many of them choose to flee even the camps and subsist as slightly freer illegal's, always fearful of arrest.
The kids at the school are a mix. In the Mae Sot area alone, there are reputed to be over 1 million refugees, some legal and most illegal, trying to survive. A network of schools, around 60, has formed a network - Burmese migrant Workers Education Committee Schools. Our kids, 75 of them, live at the school. Some have parents, some do not. The ones with parents dropped them off or sent them across the border to give them a greater chance at education and safety. They range in age from 7 to about 21. The teachers also join in the classes as students. The teachers are, for the most part, young and uneducated and not always paid. They are as eager to learn as their students.
The school consists of outside classrooms, only one has desks and chairs, the others have bamboo mats on the ground where the kids sit. Each classroom has a whiteboard and one marker. The school has a library consisting of about 40 books, has two electric fans that are extremely popular, and is actually a very joyful place. It is funded right now by the Committee, which relies on donations and a small group of Pilipino nuns associated with a group out of Montreal. The very cool nuns, no nun wear, come every day with food for the school as there is so much corruption you cannot trade in money as it will go missing - usually to a military cause. The nuns bring the building supplies and volunteers to fix things. The kids live in bamboo hut dormitories and are pretty healthy. Some get money and clothing from their parents in Burma. It is clear who has direct supporters and who doesn't but they are so kind to each other they seem to share everything they have.
The kids have to be in summer school because they have nowhere else to go - they cannot leave the property as they have no papers, they desperately want to learn and so the school looks for volunteer teachers for the month of April. They use the month of May as a work month - repairing and rebuilding.
It is pretty amazing the job Sharon was able to do with the big group she encountered on her first day. Seventy five eager kids, squished into seating for 30, staring at her, waiting for some kind of lesson. She told us of the sheer exhaustion she was feeling when we got there as she is a serious teacher and had been spending every waking and sleeping moment planning the next day's lesson.
Laura had arrived the previous week from me and had split the class according to age. She took the under 12's and she too jumped in with both feet. When I arrived, the two of them were drawing out lessons and planning for the last week.
My first day I was given the middle group. It consisted of all the boys who were a little rowdy, supposedly the middle ages. Laura took the really little kids; Sharon kept her smart, focused older kids and the teachers as they were really serious about learning.
I was the last one in, the freshest and only had a week left so it was fair that I take most of the boys. My group of about 30, consisted of all super energized boys, ages about 8 through 17. I secretly coveted the little girls who like to color and sing!!!!. I asked them all how long they had been at this school and it ranged from 5 days through 6 years. Most had been there about 2 years. They all do not speak the same language as these kids are from Hill tribes so each tribe speaks a completely different language. Most of the school though is Karen and the teachers all speak Karen and some speak Burmese.
After my first two hour spontaneous lesson, I was glad to be invited to lunch with the kids. It is pretty basic stuff out in the country - they have camp cooks who live on site and have rice at every meal. The nuns try to ensure there is one hot meal per day. We had rice and boiled chicken bones and cucumbers. They gave us much more than the kids had so we felt pretty bad about eating too much but it would have been rude not to eat.
The ride home felt a little less stressful as I now knew how far it was and what I would be encountering as far as road surfaces. I still saw very little other than that road surface.
Next on the agenda was to return to home base, our lovely rented house - (I paid $5 a night rented from a pseudo NGO) to get ready for teaching assignment #2 of the day.....back out onto the freeway for a longer distance, this time a different direction, out into the hills to teach a group of Monks who had fled after the 2007 uprising. Some of them had been imprisoned and had escaped, others had different stories. they had been holed up in a Thai monastery waiting resettlement to America.
Yet again, another terrifying yet exhilarating trip on the bike. Sharon led the lesson and I just helped now and then with pronunciation. The group is very diverse in language and education. They range in ages from about 23 to 37, with most late 20's. To say the least they are very eager and committed students, knowing that they will need English desperately and soon if they get the call about resettlement.
I will never forget my first full day in Mae Sot. When I finally lay down and reviewed the day, it epitomized the idea of living fully and without fear. I was so glad I pushed myself to come here, seize the opportunity and just go with whatever came my way.
Then the thoughts turned to doing it all again the next day...............
.
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Mae Sot, Thailand

What a wild few hours in Mae Sot!!!! No such thing as a learning curve here, just a flare of hope shot into the sky and either you grab it and go or you just don't go so.....grab I did.
Arrived in Mae Sot on Sunday late - it was just getting dusk as I found Laura and Sharon and reviewed the new digs. No time to catch up on where we all had been the last month ( me, 4 more countries, in one month - I can't even believe it), them, having slowly moved on from Laos individually, Sharon coming directly to Mae Sot and Laura had leisurely toured some of northern Thailand before coming to Mae Sot a week or so ago. Both excitedly told me about their teaching jobs - their time divided between a morning position at a Migrant Burmese school and a position teaching Burmese refugee Monks in the afternoon. Sounded good, sounded rewarding, sounded like something I could do. Until they told me the Migrant school was about 35 minutes outside of Mae Sot, in the countryside, and that the Monks were hiding up in the mountains, about 25 minutes on the other side of Mae Sot. The clincher was the only way to get to either place is by motorcycle and they both had their own motorcycles but were not able to take me on theirs because they did not feel competent enough to drive with a passenger, Laura only having relearned to ride here in Thailand and Sharon having rekindled her love for the bike after a very long absence. I would have to hurry up and get a bike before dark because it was Sunday night and we needed to teach Monday morning.
Not teaching was not an option as they were despearate for help. Sharon had showed up at the Migrant school a month prior and was given 75 students, aged 7 to 21 in one outdoor class: no books, no materials, a white board and a marker. The Burmese teachers were also sitting in the class as students. Still I cannot imagine how she got through that first day - shell shocked and terrified, and if you met her you would know she was also desperate for them to have a great learning experience. Laura had come a week or so later, jumping in with both feet, having never taught before, and had taken half of the students - the younger ones. She was teaching them in an open classroom without desks or chairs - just a few bamboo mats on the floor and one whiteboard and one marker. They had had another volunteer from Germany come but she had crashed her rented motorcycle the first day, sustained injuries and never made it to class. She left town with her injuries to recuperate on the beach!!!! Now the plan was to find me a rental bike immediately so I could drive the 30 - 40 kms to class in the morning and start teaching one third of the 75 kids!!! This would not have been as daunting - and I say that lightly because the teaching part is big enough, but the little issue about me not knowing how to ride a motorcycle was far more immediate and far more daunting than any group of students.
Back to the theme of this trip - What would your life look like if you lived without fear???? This whole trip I had wished, in every place, that I had learned to ride a motorcycle sometime previously in my life because they were everywhere, cheap to rent - some places cheaper that bicycles, and it would have allowed me so much more freedom to just go on my own or with friends, out into the country and see a different view of some of the places I visited.
So, before I could really think it out and with only minutes to spare before closing time, we rushed up and down the streets of Mae Sot, attempting to track down a motorcycle, preverably an automatic, for me to rent and learn to drive in the one hour we had before full darkness. The idea did seem just plain stupid and far too risky for words as the 35 kms to the first school was not to be just on country roads. Mae Sot is a city/town with traffic, traffic lights and lots of cars and trucks and even more motorcycles. Here in Thailand, and in most of Asia, (not all!!) they drive on the opposite side of the road from us and I have struggled with that on foot and on bicycles - always forgetting to turn into the opposite lane.
Somehow we found an automatic at the third place we tried, I left my passport and pretended I could drive it away from the shop. The guy showed me how to start it and handed it over to me and I tried to push it out to the street and struggled even with that. Seems the reality of the looming situation was starting to set in and I really was becoming concerned with my own lack of better judgement. The other owner of the shop came out and basically asked if I could drive the thing, to which I replied - yes, but it has been a long time so my friend will take it from here. They looked very unconvinced as Laura drove it off the lot......Dusk was really setting in, she showed me how to start it, how to brake and how to use the throttle. What more is there to it????
Apparently fear makes my body rigid so I got on, in the middle of the big street as there was no where else to go - not like they have a Walmart parking lot here, and went a few hundred metres. I stopped. I tried to turn around - not so easy. Got off, pushed the bike in a circle and came back to where she was standing. Exhausted. One trip of the fear factor and I was ready to give up. I remembered being ready to give up on the diving experience a couple of weeks prior and all I would have missed if I hadn't conquered that, I had my two friends desperately needing help with their burden and the only way to help was to master this thing enough to drive 35 kms in the morning to God knows where, to find God knows what, and teach God knows what for a lesson. I couldn't even think beyond the next 20 minutes I had to learn how to ride this bike. So for twenty minutes, before full darkness, I slowly rode around the back streets of Mae Sot, nearly hitting a goat on my first curve, and thinking how appropriate that would be for my brief stupid biker career.
At dark, I had to put the bike away for the night. I was not sure if I would be to pull the whole thing off in the morning. The plan was for me to ride in the middle of the two and we would go slowly, even though we had a deadline and had to be at school on time as school started when they - the only teachers right now, arrived. As we mapped out the route, I learned that first we had to get out of Mae Sot, onto the freeway for a short stint, do a U turn to get going the other way on the freeway, turn off into a village, go through three villages, onto a country road (paved) to the turnoff to the school which was a dirt road and then to the school!!! Needless to say, it was a sleepless night, worrying about the fact that I could only go straight still and was not even sure about stopping after the straight bit. And the experience of the German who had preceeded me - she having to be treated in a substandard clinic in Mae Sot and now nursing her wounds before returning home.......ayayayay!!!! Then there was to be the teaching bit.......

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Mae Sot, Thailand

Yet another long and winding road. Through the northern Thai mountains from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot - finally travelling in the right direction. At the bus station I heard the young girl in front of me ask about a ticket to Mae Sot. Seems we would have to wait a few hours to get the direct bus so I told her I too wanted to go to Mae Sot and she, being Thai, was able to figure out another way to get there from here. It was to involve a big bus and then a transfer to a minibus for the last few hours
We bought our tickets together and she took me to a little noodle shop so I could grab breakfast before our 9 am bus. So nice to be with a native speaker - you can expect fewer mystery dishes and usually the price of everything is halved.
I learned my new friend was heading home to visit family, her name was Geye, but said it was Eye because most foreigners could not pronounce it correctly...hmmm Cybele/Jasmine - wasn't that only the day before that I had the same issue?
Geye is a 27 year engineer, living in Bangkok. I guessed she was about 18 years old. These Thai girls just do not age...anyway she had enough English to make it fun for the 6 hour trip through many winding S turns, up and down through heavy forests and over mountain ranges with spectacular vistas. As with every Asian bus journey, and especially on the long and winding road ones that I always seem to choose, half the bus pukes.
I am so grateful I do not suffer from motion sickness because if I did this would have been a horrible winter here in Asia. Geye, as with most Asian girls, is a puker and did her level best not to throw up. She had taken Gravol before getting on the big bus and together we tried a number of things to limit the puke factors.
I am pleased to report she did not throw up in my presence - she was kind enough to go downstairs (double decker bus) to puke. Thai and Laos pukers, because they just know they will, are the most polite in the world. They come onto the bus or train with their little plastic bags and puke very discretely, no retching, no drama, just gentle barfing into their bags as he vehicles swing and sway along the roadways.
We transferred vehicles in a city called Tak and I thought the extremely crowded 15 person minivan would be worse but it was better for Geye because the windows opened. The fresh air didn't seem to be the elixir for many in the van who were puking within about 15 minutes. On the big bus Geye and I started listening to the music she had on her cell phone as she wanted me to hear different Thai artists. By the time we switched to the minivan we were on to my IPod, sharing one set of earphones and rocking along trying not to think about how hot it was or how crowded it was in the 15 person van. The van was fully loaded with a real variety of locals, stopping to drop some off in very remote areas so they could hike into the mountains to their houses, and picking up others who waved the van down on the side of the hiway. As we got closer to Mae Sot, the police presence increased and we went through police roadblocks over and over, sometimes having to produce identity papers, sometimes just having the van checked. Mae Sot is directly on the border with Burma and is a hotbed of activity for smuggling of all kinds - much of it, human smuggling. The checkpoints are similar to the areas throughout Texas, near the Mexican border where you will be driving through the remote desert, come around a bend to find a full check stop and search team looking for Mexican aliens. This journey was through heavily treed mountainous jungle, so I assume some Burmese are able to make it through the jungle to be picked up on the highway.
The starkness of police and military checkpoints, with heavily armed officers sweating in the intense heat, was very jarring after the gentleness and lack of anything official that I had come to expect here in SE Asia. In Mexico and the Caribbean, and even in Europe, you are reminded daily of the hierarchy of power and control. Even with the world watching Thailand for the last few months, seeing a small slice of life and activity from the protestors in Bangkok, this part of the world feels much different than the rest I have been to so far. I understand that the lack of a visible face to public order does not always represent the reality of the degree of need or oppression, but that dearth of in your face" military or police presence does create a sense of calmness, or is it just a desire for naivety on my part? Either way, it became obvious that Mae Sot was going to be a different place than most.
Geye certainly made the journey enjoyable because she was very funny and candid and open and it is always fun to see how humor translates. Her family had been calling her on her cell - all from different places - so every time the phone rang she would answer with Check, Check, Check""..... They were checking on her progress home. I took one of the calls from one of her sisters and that was very funny in itself....."Her sister trying to figure out who I was........had to be there I guess.
One of her sisters picked us up on the highway and graciously took me to the guesthouse address I had for my friends and ensured I was left in good hands before departing. On the whole, Thais are so sweet and gentle, always willing to go the extra mile - literally in this case.
Along the way, Geye taught me a lot about manners and what type of things were acceptable for foreigners' to do that were unacceptable for Thais. These cultural nuances are fascinating and one is unable to figure them out without having an inside scoop. This is the best part about travelling alone - it seems that every bus station, train station, airport, boat, hotel or guesthouse I am in, I meet really interesting, kind people who are happy to share their lives with me and I learn so much from them
It turned out that my two friends, Sharon and Laura, had left the guesthouse and had rented a house nearby. It was great to see them again and to see the nice accommodation they had secured for us.
The house is in a little compound with a few other houses and a laundry business. The laundry is done in little outbuildings and hung all around our yard so the fragrnace of freshly washed laundry is quite delightful. The one negative is that the house is between two bars and both have live music into the night - both have brutally bad musicians so the screaming Thai music is wearing at best.
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Mae Sai, Thailand

What a difference two letters make. Mae Sai, Mae Sot.
When I met Mariel, featured in the last episode of Exorcism", she told me she needed to do a Visa run. What that means, in every country around here, is that your visa is about to expire and you need to go to the border of another country, walk across the border, get stamped in, pay some money usually, and you have a renewed Visa. In Thailand, if you have travelled here by land, you get a 14 day visa, by air, a 30 day visa. I chose to come by air on the date I did because I counted back 30 days from my departure ticket so I would not be in this predicament. Something valuable I only learned here from seeing others doing Visa runs. Mariel mentioned she was going to do a visa run to Mae Sot - on the Burma border. Mae Sot was my next destination as I had planned to meet my two friends I had met in Laos there. Sharon had come to Mae Sot after Laos and had been teaching Burmese refugees for a few weeks while I did the multiple country tour and Laura had gone onto to Thailand and had joined Sharon a week ago and was also teaching.
They had emailed me telling me they were the only teachers in a school, out in the country, with over 75 students aged 7 to 20 something's - all who live on the school grounds (displaced children with no papers - no status), no teaching curriculum, no stuff, no desks even or chairs in one classroom and they were looking for any help they could. Voila - I missed them and I was ready to give back a little. Good thing was it was all ready to go - fully set up, bad thing is - Mae Sot is the hottest town in Thailand, during the hottest week of the year and I was already puddling with every movement. Oh well, suck it up Princess I told myself and emailed saying I was on my way. Lucky lucky from the queen the day before and I could share a ride with Mariel to the border, combine it with a full tour on the way of stuff we both had not seen, her go across for her stamp and return to Chiang Mai, me get out and find my friends and start teaching. What a plan!
Mariel had met a taxi driver who was willing to create a tour of the day and we agreed on the price. A day with Mr. Boon and Mariel - see some stuff in a private car and no need for bus to Mae Sot. Mae Sot is about a 5 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai so I was glad to go upscale for once.
Saturday morning I pack all my stuff, say goodbye to the folks at the Guesthouse and meet Mariel and Mr. Boon. We laugh that we are on a Thelma and Louise roadtrip, hoping to find Brad Pitt along the way. As I am putting my stuff in the trunk......I mention a temple that would be good to see. Hmmm....seems like that temple isn't on the way to where we are headed......Mae Sai, not Mai Sot!!!!
Mariel, the Norwegian dancing queen, with her strong Norwegian accent, comes up with Mae Sai, Mae Sot; - I just thought Mr. Boon didn't know how to pronounce it right!!! Oy vey!!! What to do now???
The two places are in opposite directions, both Burmese border towns, but we don't have time to get to Mae Sot and her back in one night, and Mr. Boon has planned a full day of stuff to see on the way to Mae Sai. And the tour price is more than one person can afford .....I have to go to Mae Sai today and Mae Sot tomorrow and I need to tell my friends who are expecting me and I need a place to stay when I come back for one night only to leave again in the morning.....
I return to my Guesthouse to use the computer to email my Mae Sot friends to tell them I will come on Sunday, not Saturday when an American woman walks by and says.....why are you still here? I thought you were going to Mae Sot? I did a double take, worried that the spirit removal/exorcism had stolen part of my memory or the lady boy shots were more powerful than I remembered. I looked again and swore I had never seen her before, but it was spooky she knew what was happening.
I told her I didn't believe I had ever seen her before and when she came into the lobby, she realized she had mistaken me for Mariel the Norwegian. They had met the night before (I stayed in with a sinus thing happening) and Mariel had told her she was leaving early morn to go to Mae Sot. I explained the whole deal and asked her why she wasn't coming on the ""Thelma and Louise do Northern Thailand"" Roadshow. She couldn't come up with a good enough answer so the Zelma, Thelma and Louise Roadshow set off.
The American's name is Cybele, but because Mariel and I couldn't say it correctly we chose Jasmine for her. Jasmine is a Doctor, a Tropical Medicine Infectious Disease Specialist, working everywhere but based in a teaching hospital in San Francisco. She had been working in Bangkok Hospital briefly but was disappointed in the dearth of really interesting infections, she had become bored and was going to see if Chiang Mai might have some better funguses and infections to spend time with. Another kindred spirit with ADD.
We had great fun. Twelve hours together in the car, out of the car, in Chiang Rai,up with the Hill tribes, in Mae Sai,, at the white temple, which was the most beautiful thing all three of us had ever seen, at the hot springs,, at Burma - Mariel going in, Jasmine and I hiking a little mountain to look across into. We saw lots and learned lots, from each other.
Mr. Boon learned the most. The discussions ranged from my prostitution career to Jasmine's specialty of STD's and HIV, to every tropical disease there is and what not to eat and where not to swim in the world, to good boyfriends and bad boyfriends and everything in between and biological clocks (Jasmine's) and cultures we had visited - between the three of us there were few countries yet to visit, and on and on. Another great spontaneous, unplanned semi disaster that turned out great. Again - proof that it's the journey......
Lucky lucky lucky as they say here.
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