End of Thailand = SADNESS

Dear family and friends,

Since my last post, Janny and I left Chiang Mai in the northern region of Thailand and headed southwest to the Central Plains to Mae Sot, a sleepy and small town where a lot of people pass through to get to Umphang. From Mae Sot to Umphang was a 5.5-hr adventure through the twisted, winding mountains on the back of a small truck filled with 20 people, and 4 more on top of the truck with the luggage! I was flying off my seat and holding on for dear life every minute of the way, and trying to look out a small opening of window space to keep my bearings (and breakfast) from escaping me. But we made it to Umphang, a small town in higher elevation, and stayed in a really beautiful cabin-like guesthouse. The next day we took a day trip to the Tee Lor Su Waterfall, a huge, 3-tiered waterfall that's the biggest in Thailand and one of the best in the world, and we had to raft to get there as well as some trekking. We were with an extremely knowledgeable Thai jungle guide and a delightful German couple, and rafted through the limestone cliffs along the amazing river. We soaked in some hot springs and relaxed by the waterfall for a while, and it was beautiful. Hopefully the photos (most by Janny, the wonderful photographer) can share a glimpse of the wonders I have seen.

After a few days in Umphang we traveled back to Bangkok, where my flight back to Hong Kong was waiting. I'm here at the Hong Kong International Airport, waiting for my flight back to the United States. I'll be home for 6 full days, mostly to repack and organize my Colombia trip, and to see some people who I've really missed. ;)

This trip has been really incredible, and the top 3 things I will miss in Thailand:
1. Food (sweet green mango, banana shakes, rice soup in the morning, green curry, coconuts)
2. People (new friends, people met along the way, Thai guides, locals, everyone was so wonderful!!!!)
3. The rivers and islands in Thailand (especially Koh Surin and the Khao Praya)

After this is Colombia, where you will probably find my next blog post! I'm so incredibly excited and nervous to be staying for one month in Bogota and hopefully around the whole country when my research is completed. I am looking forward to doing some volunteer work there as well, and who knows, I may end up staying there forever!! =)

Cheers, and I hope my blog for Hong Kong and Thailand has reflected just a taste of this memorable journey for me.

a moth on my finger
rainbow!
the limestone cliffs
just flowing along...

Thai Farm Cooking Class and more FOOD.

Janny and I eating streetside in Meo Sot, a base town to Umphang, which is the base to the jungle and waterfall trekking that we may do for the next couple of days.

At our last night in Chiang Mai, a friend took us to this really great Thai restaurant, and this is coconut shoot with shrimp and peppers. Really tender and delicious.

A fresh salad dish of shayote and shrimp with all the Thai fixins'.


Mango and sticky rice dish that I made during our one day Thai farm cooking school! So easy and turned out incredible!!!


These are some of the dishes I made--papaya salad (fresh, sweet, sour, and a hint of spiciness), red curry with chicken, and a Thai coconut chicken soup. It turned out really well, but the cooking school made it fairly easy for us to learn, so I can't take the credit for it.


my cooking station!

Grinding my own red curry paste to make my red curry chicken dish!


The farm at the school with fresh herbs, fruits, and many vegetables. All the ingredients we used were organic and a lot of it from the farm!

Us in our red aprons ready to cook up a storm!! It was a really great day in Chiang Mai.

The morning at a local marketplace with the chef who explained different ingredients and spices to us before teaching us how to make specialty dishes. Maybe if you're lucky, I will cook some authentic Thai food for you when I get back to the States!!

Cheers,
Mamie

Tiger Penis Whiskey and Homemade Coconut Ice Cream

Dear family and friends,

Instead of the usual boring summary of my activities, I thought I'd be straight forward and list the top ten things I did these past few days:

1. I drank tiger penis whiskey in a marketplace in Laos. There were vats of whiskey with different potent, creepy things infused in, such as king cobra, armadillo, scorpions, and yep, tiger penis.

2. Janny and I got a fish massage today, which consisted of us slipping both our naked feet into a huge tank of hundreds of little fish that immediately suck and nibble at your feet and up your legs. It was the most panic-filled, chaotic 3 minutes of my life until I got used to it! We were sitting in the front of the parlor in front of a glass window so everyone who walked by asked to take photos of the silly girls with fish clawing at their dead skin cells.

3. We were at the Elephant Institute in Chiang Mai, which consisted of an elephant hospital, nursery, bathing grounds, and much more. I saw cute little toddler elephants, and saw what beautiful, gentle, and elegant creatures they really are!

4. I am an expert at squat-peeing now as most bathrooms are little more than holes in the ground with little stands for your raised feet.

5. Today we experienced the Sunday night market, which is once a week, and HUGE with every kind of food and goods you can imagine!! We were guided by our new friend Ject who showed us the good food stalls and we all bought some trinkets and bananas.

6. We took a day trip to the "Golden Triangle," which is the meeting point of Laos, Burma, and Thailand, which used to be a huge opium drug zone. We walked through many village markets, and there were a lot of begging children, and it was really heart-breaking to know that this was a way of life for them. I gave some money to little boy clinging to our boat, and as soon as he saw me reaching my hand into my purse and pulling out a bill, he ran over and grabbed it out of my hand and all I saw were vacant eyes. And then he ran away. I mean, I did that with full understanding that he probably would never get to use the money, and that I was supporting an irresponsible trade as he probably has to report back to a higher entity.

7. An average meal in Thailand is around 20-40 baht, which is about $0.75-1.50 US dollars. Locals eat out all the time because of the cheap food prices! I could certainly get used to this. Imagine, a delicious, full plate of pad thai for 30 baht!! and a plate full of sticky rice and mango for 20 baht.

8. People are shocked we are American, which leads me to believe that American stereotypes are rampant and common all over Southeast Asia, and probably the world. They find it strange we don't have blonde hair and blue eyes.

9. Thai babies are some of the cutest babies in the world!!! They are so mellow and calm babies, and I have yet to see a fussy one yet! Our hostel owners have half-German and half-Thai twin baby boys who are incredibly adorable.

10. In a couple of days we are going to do a 3-day trek through the Thai jungle! We'll be doing some serious rafting, trekking, and elephant-riding in Umphang, which is in the central plains of Thailand.

I miss you all. Happy Chinese New Year!




janny checking out the 100% elephant dung paper products! they make it here from real elephant dung and through a simple process are able to produce wonderful, beautiful paper!


visiting the White Temple, which won't be completed until 2070, but promised to draw tons more people into the Chiang Rai area as a tourist spot. The temple represents one passing through hell (thus the scary hands reaching up) before reaching Heaven, which is across the bridge with the temple.

going down the Me Kong River, the divider of Laos, Burma, and Thailand.




yep, this is what you think it is.

someone lifting up the armadillo from its whiskey infusion.

a girl and a baby begging us to buy some of the Akkah village's bracelets. she really used the baby to her full advantage for selling. the children are very sneaky and wise in the ways of selling and persuasion. it's scary.



at an ancient thai temple in doi suthep in chiang mai. i was reprimanded for wearing shorts into the temple. silly me to wear shorts in boiling weather!!

a jackfruit tree! so apparently the fruit grows off the trunk of the tree, and not the branches!

lady preparing our delicious papaya salad--crisp, sweet, sour, and a little spicy. que bueno!

waiting for the other half of our dinner at the night street market!

fish nibbling on janny's leg next to me!

Phuket to Koraburi to Ko Surin to Bangkok to Chiang Mai!

Dear family and friends,

It's been about a week in Thailand, but it feels so much longer than that!! We started out in Phuket (near the very south of Thailand), then took a bus up the coast to Kuraburi, which is the launching town to Ko Surin, which is world-class snorkeling about 60 miles off the Thai coast. It was amazing--crystal blue waters, extensive fishes and corals, island natives, snorkeling between, among, and within groups of tropical animals in the Andaman Sea, and cute Thai guides! We rented a tent right on the beach, and at night gazed up into the breath-taking stars and galaxies. Wow. It just overwhelms and astonishes me when I gaze into the sky and see the trillions of glowing lights against the backdrop of a perfectly black night. That and coupled with being right on the beach, I just can't explain it with words the feeling I get. It was a very serene, and meaningful time at Surin Island, and one I will likely not forget for a long while. I was sad to go!

But alas we did, and from Karaburi took a 9 hr bus ride into Bangkok, the capital of Thailand!! We stayed right off the river which we used every day for transportation--the river is so beautiful and powerful (and dirty!) We explored Bangkok's Chinatown, The Grand Palace, Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha), Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Shopping, and much more, but of course, my personal favorite--sampling the cuisine of the locals! It was a fun, fast-paced few days.

Yesterday we took a train up from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the northern region of Thailand known for its delicious food and laid-back lifestyle. We're chilling here in Chiang Mai for another few days, and today was our first full day here. Riding on the overnight sleeper train into Chiang Mai was a unique experience, and I got my own bottom bunk bed and got to see Thailand's northern countryside rolling by in the morning. We'll be here in Chiang Mai, specifically, inside the old city centre (surrounded by a moat), for another few days. We just got back from the huge night/street market, and bought a few trinkets, because quite frankly, who can resist?? There seems to be a certain style associated with a lot of backpackers and travelers consisting of aladdin/parachute/mc hammer pants which are incredibly comfortable and come in so many different shapes and colors, and a large fabric sling bag as a purse (this outfit is for females, of course). I enjoy the more relaxed, comfortable, hippie look which I am beginning to slightly adapt to and someone may have to slap it outta me when I get home!!

I love Thailand! The people here are incredibly friendly, with everyone on the street seeming to want to know where you're going! Also, when we answer that we're from America when they ask where we're from, usually locals are shocked and giggly. Then of course we have to explain we're Chinese-American, so they don't assume we're either liars or blondes with dyed black hair. The food is so inexpensive and plentiful. I drinks tons of fruit shakes a day--papaya, watermelon, banana, you name the fruit, they have it! I also love green curry and drinking young coconuts. For example, we had dinner today of northern curry noodles and wonton noodles, and the steaming, delicious bowls cost 30 baht each, which is slightly less than 1 US Dollar! I can definitely see myself returning to Thailand in the future, as so many travelers seem to do, since I now understand what a great culture and landscape this all adds up to be. I hope you enjoy some of my photos from my time in Thailand, and I miss you all.

Love,
Mamie



curry noodles
wonton noodlesbanana, chocolate rotee sold on the streets

enjoying some jelly shaved ice during a hot, sunny day!

food market outside one of the river boat stops in Bangkok.

Just one of the many, many fancy structures within the Grand Palace, where the royal family's rule reigns in Bangkok.

Sunset over the Chao Praya River in
fried bugs, worms, and scorpions in Bangkok!!

mother-of-pearl designs on the bottom of the reclining Buddha's feet!





KO SURIN!!!


the village of the Mokken people whose homes were destroyed by the Tsunami, but was later rebuilt on the beach again.