10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
Rose in Thailand
We are back from our 6 week sojourn in Thailand! It was a wonderful trip.
It's nice to have my daughter back at home and exciting to help my son
prepare to go to India in 2 weeks.
I lost lots of your emails while I was travelling because of some technical
problems downloading my mail. It's amazing to me how available internet
cafes have become (especially in tourist areas) in the last 3 years. Next
time I travel, I will set up my account differently.
Bobby, I am sorry to hear about Julia's illness. And Pat, please rest and
get better soon. My prayers are with you both!
I'm assuming by Bobby's comment a day ago that Tom and Evangeline are
expecting a child. I hope I'm not starting rumors, but if I've assumed
correctly, CONGRATULATIONS!
I have heard that it has been hot here but we either brought a cool front
or are so used to incredibly hot and humid temperatures that we are feeling
super comfortable. It took me a while to acclimate to Thailand's
weather--despite being there in the wet season (versus the hot season), it
was one or two weeks for me to adjust. Basically, if you are outdoors,
your clothes are damp and sticky. Most Thais take two or more showers per
day. Bangkok is a most intense experience in heat, dust and pollution, but
the train station actually offers shower cubicles (for about 30 cents). We
took the train throughout the country--the sleeper cars are comfortable and
cheap and vendors get on for a few stations and sell delicious food they've
made for very reasonable prices. Sometimes it's hard to know what it is
you're buying since we don't speak Thai but over time we learned and my
daughter was a big help.
We had so many adventures and met so many nice people on our trip, it will
be a bit dull settling into day to day life here at home. All of us
improved our understanding of Thai--my daughter is really good after her
year there and my son was learning fast and discovering similarities
between written Thai and written Hindi.
I hardly know where to begin in describing our trip, but perhaps you would
be interested in a trek we took in the mountains of the northwest. The
group was comprised of three Thai guides and 15 travellers from the US
(the six of us), England (Epsom, near London, mates), Holland and Ireland.
Martin and I were definitely the oldsters of the group--most of them were
in their 20's. We each carried our own supplies--I'd estimate my pack to
weigh about 15 to 20 pounds. We walked through the jungle
mountains--basically either straight up or straight down. It rained a lot
making the trails treacherous. My husband slid into a waterfall but didn't
sustain any serious injuries from his fall. To rescue him, the guides cut
a long strand of bamboo and used it like a rope to pull him back up to the
trail.
We visited several hill tribes (refugees who live in Thailand's mountain
areas) and swam in a couple waterfalls. We got utterly and totally
drenched regularly--my daughter and her friend didn't realize that they
were supposed to wrap everything in their pack in a big plastic bag and
within a few hours of the start of the trip all of their gear was
completely wet.
The hill tribe people live traditional lifestyles, many without
electricity. We spent a wonderful evening with some hill tribe kids singing
songs and playing tag and other games. We taught them "duck, duck, goose"
and their understanding of the rules and words was really funny. They
called it "duck, duck, camu."
The vegetation in the jungle is varied and lush. Orchids grow wild, and
the varieties of bamboo are too numerous to count. We rode elephants along
a river--it's quite a strange sensation riding on an elephant. They have
so much grace and balance they could be walking on a tightrope but from the
top it's a little scary because the trails seem too steep and narrow and
the elephants try to wander off continually so that they can munch on
tender shoots of bamboo and other vegetation.
We also took a raft trip down a river with very exciting rapids. The rafts
were assembled that morning of bamboo lashed together with strips of tire.
On one rapid our guide fell off. The four of us passengers got stuck on a
rock, giving him enough time to swim back to the raft and climb aboard. We
went backwards downstream until we got to flat water and could get everyone
in the right place again.
Camping along the river one night we listened to local musicians play
traditional Thai instruments and guitars and anything else that sounded
good (a propane tank made a good cymbal). The party went on far into the
night well past my staying up power.
By the end of our 3-day adventure, we had made thorough friends with the
whole group. It was an unlikely friendship in that on the surface we had
little in common but the adversities we had experienced and the intensity
of the adventure brought us together.
I need to get to work! Therese, are you back?
Bye,
Rose