The good, the bad and the ugly... random thoughts

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  Amphawa, Thailand
Monday, May 19, 2008

After each blog entry, I remember the little things that I meant to share with you but always forget as I rush through the entry.  So we thought we'd just share some random thoughts about things that we like, that we don't like and any other interesting observations.


The Good....
* the mixed fruit shakes (banana, pineapple and coconut blended with ice is our favourite!)
* the cheap and tasty Pad Thai and Green curries from the night markets and food centres
* the abundance of fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, rambutan, lychees...)
* the Thai massages!! 
* the ability to buy over-the-counter antibiotics without having to go to the docs (I came down with a chesty cough due to crappy air-conditioning in Siem Reap.  I knew what I needed to cure it - but didn't want the hassle of going to a doctor.  My 'bird flu' has been cured now.)
* the fresh fruit shakes
* the smell of laundry that has been put through a washing machine with fabric softener, after several weeks of doing it in the hand basin.
* have I mentioned the fruit shakes?
* coconut ice cream and the traditional Thai dessert made with ice, coconut cream and little coloured jellies and chopped fruit.
* the incredibly cheap bottled water available everywhere
* the excellent public transportation system - whether it be the Sky Train in Bangkok, the ever-present Tuk-tuks, the public buses or taxi-trucks - getting around town is generally very cheap and easy if you use public transportation
* the yummy fruit shakes! (We are definitely getting our daily allowance of fruit while we are here..)

....the bad...
* The stinking, omni-present heat!
* The not-always-so-clean bathrooms (ie mouldy doors that are rotting on the bottoms)
* Showers that either don't have hot water, or have a broken shower spray holder so you have to hold it yourself, or that dribble (it's impossible to wash thick, long hair in a dribble of water!) 
* The crazy driving in the big cities (Bangkok, Siem Reap and especially Phnom Penh) - and the drivers that drive on the wrong side of the road.
* The dogs that come out and stand in the middle of the road around 4pm as the day gets cooler.  I'm terrified we'll hit one with the car one day.
* The smell of wet and drying fish in the markets
* The myriad of creepy-crawlies - the mosquitoes, the gigantic centipedes, the man-eating giant red ants and the monstrous cockroaches.  We found one vendor in a night market that had taken revenge and served many of these deep-fried on a plate.  Yummy!
* The constant haranguing by the tuk-tuk drivers when you step off a bus, or walk along the road "You want tuk-tuk?" and from the market vendors ("You want to buy scarf?  You want to buy postcard?  You buy from me - I remember you!")  It's all same-same!!
* the icky-coloured rivers - although we are getting used to it.  Today, Debbie contemplated dangling her feet in the river off the deck of our riverside homestay.

... and the random - our miscellaneous observations:
* I was last in Thailand 20 years ago and I have to say that I am generally impressed with how much cleaner it is here.  The rivers seem to have much less floating rubbish, and the roads are also usually pretty good.  The exception to this  seems to be in the markets where everyone just drops whatever they don't need on the ground - whether it be paper, bottles or food scraps. 

* Driving in Thailand has been surprising easy and straight-forward, once you work out the unwritten road rules.  the maps and roadsigns are pretty good and makes it surprisingly easy.  And the Thais are ever so friendly and  helpful in giving us directions (even when they have very limited English), or to take us to a particular place we are looking for.

* Eating in Thailand can prove a challenge to the squeamish.  We have learned it is best to use some level of common sense (ie avoid the vendors where the raw chicken is sitting in the hot sun and covered in flies) - and anywhere it is advisable to not look where food is prepared.  Just eat and enjoy - what you don't know won't hurt you!  The night markets tend to be quite good as they are wheeling out the food in the cooler evening, and the food is still fresh.  (We just don't ponder where the food was sitting all day....)

* There is a significant number of 'transvestites' throughout Thailand (ie guys living as girls, anyhow).  What is perhaps surprising is that the seem to be fairly well accepted by others, and appear to easily work alongside others in their day-to-day jobs.

* The Thais love their TV!  Even the poorest people that we have seen who live in fairly rustic shacks without power all have their battery-operated TV's going in the evenings.  The sellers in the markets are often glued to their portable TV's when the latest episode of their version of Shortland Street is on.  It's a nice time to browse the markets because it's the only time we don't get hassled!  The Thais and Cambodians both seem to have a wide range of their own productions - all over-acted with shrieking histrionics.  It's quite entertaining really (purely for observational purposes, you understand!)

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