On The Road

It has been a wonderful week in Thailand. Melanie and I arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday and spent two nights there in a wonderful old little 6 bedroom inn in the heart of the old part of the city. Melanie drank her first 7-Up out of a questionably sanitary plastic bag, Eddie learned how to look right so not to get hit by oncoming traffic (Thailand drives on the left), and we both got lost trying to get oriented in the city with little help a map. After too much traffic by Tuk tuk and being overwhelmed by such a large city, we finished seeing the more popular sites and booked a sleeper car on the North bound train. 15 hours later we arrived in the city of Chiang Mai.


Chiang Mai has been an enjoyable city. It is smaller and more walkable than Bangkok, a little cooler(being situated father north and surrounded by hills) and full of good food and crazy markets. I have especially enjoyed the mangoes and lychee which are currently in season along with the many varieties of what Melanie calls "meat on a Stick".


One of the highlights was a cooking class Melanie and I attended yesterday by one of Thailand's most well-known chefs Sampon. After a walk around one of the markets in the morning, we spent most of the day in front of a wok and with the help of Sampon we both agreed it was the best Thai food we had yet eaten. (The two of Us with Sampon)



The Thai people continue to amaze me. They are some of the most genuinely friendly and smiley people I have ever met. Upon arrival in Bangkok people would come up and start asking Melanie and I where we were going, what we were trying to see and trying to offer us help in finding our way. While at first I was skeptical of ulterior motives during such encounters, it seems for the most part people here are just really friendly and happy to practice a little of their English with a white person. They ask where I am from, where I am trying to go, and recommend which Wat (temple) I should see. The same friendliness and hospitality has continued but not just with people one meets on the street but with the majority of all Thai people I have met so far.


However, to me, the most comical interactions so far have been with Thai's who begin by addressing Melanie rather than myself and addressing her in Thai rather than in English. Many a times she has been mistaken for my Thai girlfriend and she gets quite a few looks from both Thai men and women because of it. Maybe it's just because she is so pretty. She does recieve many compliments from the locals after they switch to speaking english recognizing thather blank stares means she has no idea what they are saying. Thankfully she has been a good sport about it and the idea has become a frequent topic of our joking and playful rambling as we wander the streets.

Tomorrow we are heading to Hanoi Vietnam and then on to Halong Bay. You can check out what looks like an amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Long_Bay

Peace and Love,
Eddie