Pai..A Slice of Heaven

As our ride pulled into the countryside resort, Marina exclaimed, its the real Thailand. It looks just like the pictures in my passport stamp. And truly, it did. After the bustle of the big city of Chiang Mai and finally recovering from our travel sickness is, Phai pronounced pie, seemed a slice of heaven.

The pastoral landscape is bright green with newly planted rice fields, and the bucolic Hills rise up around them as gentle protectors. Our little bungalow is nestled among this idyllic scenery, and the only noise is the sounds of the crickets and frogs in the evenings. The air is cooler here, and a brief pocket of rain in the afternoon further refreshes us.

Today, we rented bikes, as Benji said, the civilized way. Essentially, we asked the hotel to shuttle us with our rented bikes to our destination in the hills, and we planned to coast down the 10 miles back into town!

The friendly driver dropped us off at a waterfall, overrun with motorcycle riding, batik wearing, pubic hairs displaying, unshaven hippies. We swam in the cool waters and watched as travelers, don't you dare call them tourists, young enough to be our kids risked necks and limbs sliding down the bumpy rock into the waterfall. It's exactly what Steve and I might have done 20 years earlier. We felt so old!

The only bikes available to rent were built for adults. Even with our adjustments, the kids had a tough time gripping the hand brakes. So our descent down the hills was a fun yet treacherously wild ride.

We paused to check out a Chinese temple and had coasted a couple of miles down hills when we suddenly realized that the temples marked our turn toward town! It was 2 in the afternoon and the heat with bearing down on us like a heavy blanket. We would have to ride back up that hill!

It was slow going on the old bikes. We had run out of water, and had plans to get lunch right after the temple, so add to the mix, four irritated hungry souls. We rode back past the vicious dog that I had been relieved to pass the first time. When the temple finally came back in to view, I could have thanked that Chinese Buddha with blood and tears, but he probably would have preferred if I just meditated. At the small stand next to the temple we bought a liter of water and drink it down in a minute or two.

Mildly dehydrated, but still hot and hungry, we rode around to the proper turn and found ourselves in a small Chinese village. Plenty of outdoor eateries lying to the road and we settled in for some delicious chicken fried rice. The sky overhead turned gray and then slack. Finally the rain pour down on the 10 overhang and we played charades as we watched as we waited out the storm.

Impatient after an hour we hopped on in the drizzle and coasted the last few miles into town. We picked up a curry and steamed fish in the market, along with Steve's favorite dessert --mango with sweet coconut milk and sticky rice!

The kids fell in love with the owners adorable toy chow puppy they played for nearly an hour with the black, fluffy, ball of joy and went to bed dreaming of playing with him tomorrow. And of riding elephants, of course. More on that later in about 4 days when we get internet connection again.

Chiang Mai -- Wat a Day!

This morning we were reminded that it is Independence Day!We were thrilled to be mostly FREE of the stomach virus.

After a dip in the hotel pool, we went out to explore the ways (temples) of Chiang Mai. What a wat of wats! Some of the temples we visited dated to 700 BC! Again, we were mesmerized by the gilded, glittering intricate exteriors.  Inside the temples sat giant, golden Buddha's in lotus position, or reclining, or, towering to the ceiling and robed in silk.

But the most astonishing adornments were not the Buddhas, but the monks:

 After removing my shoes to enter one Temple, I stepped over the temple door lintel and clasped my hands together in respect for the three monks who sat facing the entrance. I tried not to make eye contact, but as I walked closer, I felt amazed at how still they remained. Imagine my surprise when I stood right next to them and suddenly realized that they were made of wax! Creepy!

We walked the old town, visiting temples and sampling food : no more sushi! Steve stopped to play a game with some amused 12 year olds.  La Craw is a lot like hacky sack, but with a cane ball. Bouncing it off any body part is fair game!

We strolled  through a small park where young monks sat at tables studying. One was in a heated conversation in English with a French tourist, who was asking him how he, the monk is able to suppress is carnal desires. I noticed a sign behind them: Monk conversation, donations.

 We sat down with a young man in his early 20's. He was happy to get a brief break from his textbooks. He was reading a text of Chaucer's "Cantebery Tales" in middle English for his university exam tomorrow! Hard stuff, even for native speakers. He had become a novice monk when he was 13 and enjoyed the spirituality and tranquility of the monkhood.  8 years later, he decided to become full monk when he finished his studies. Like many monks we've seen here, his smartphone rested discreetly near his book. 

After a simple dinner, we checked out the famous Chiang Mai night bazaar. There, those fish that bit us at Erawan were on sale for pedicures for 5 bucks!  I tamped down my overwhelming craving to buy a bunch of ethno plunder. It wasn't easy, but if I had, I would have had to carry it for the next 3 weeks.  Benji and Marina posed for pictures with Cabaret queens and then looked shocked when we told them these fancy ladies were actually men. But, she has boobs! Marina exclaimed.  Just wait until you have to have your first transvestite and transsexual conversation with a 10 year old. We finished of the night poaching seats at an outdoor bar where the Thai musicians were playing an excellent rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here." Fitting!

That night, at 4 in the morning, I called for Steve as I fell off the toilet and fainted. Don't worry, mom. I'm okay now. I went to the hospital and my blood pressure was fine.  We rescheduled our travel to Pie. As I write this I'm resting comfortably in a fancy, air-conditioned hotel room. My family has been waiting on me hand and foot, bless them! I could get used to this treatment. If only it didn't come with such lousy side effects.

24 hour bug

In retrospect, it probably was unwise to eat sushi off of a cart in the street in the middle of Thailand. For the next 24 hours, Stev,e Benji and Marina had high fevers and were vomiting everywhere.  First it was Marina in the middle of the night, then it was Benji on the way to catching the van then it was Marina in the van then it was Benji in the airport.  Luckily Steve didn't vomit. He only had a high fever and was exhausted.

We had no incidents on the airplane to Chiang Mai, luckily, and we made it to the hotel without problems as well. Once in the hotel Benji, Steve and Marina crashed for the night, while Ilana went out and had dinner and cocktails at the Night Bazaar.  (This post was written by Steve, BTW)

Kanchanaburi

Our rooms at the Tamarind Guest House in Kanchunaburi  sit low on the river, the walkway passages just wide enough for one. We sit on the deck in the solid wooden chairs, playing card games with the kids, and talking quietly while listening to the neighbors sing. Benji is still pleased from this morning's discovery. At breakfast he learned from the restaurant owner that he is actually the older twin. In Thailand the second born is older as he was polite enough to hold the door open for his younger sister while she came out first.

Tonight we visited the bridge over the river Kwai, where British and American POWs were forced to build a bridge during World War 2. They blew the bridge with dynamite in protest. it was rebuilt later and arches gracefully over the river like a big bird at sunset.

Erewan Falls  are a series of 7 cascades pouring down the jungle hillside. Before our hike, we stocked up on sticky rice and chopped pork, grilled chicken and cabbage to picnic along the way. Then we set off up  the humid hillside, looking forward to plunging into the turquoise pools enticing us below the waterfalls.

Marina was hesitant to follow when we jumped into the first pool because of the school of large fish that swam with us. But soon, she too succumbed to the beckoning water, which was cool and slippery against our skin. We swam beneath the raining waters, cooling our heads, laughing and playing.

We climbed farther, and by now we were all eager to jump in beneath the falls.  Steve was the first to get his feet in, but quickly jumped back out with a short shriek. "The fish just bit me!".

The skeptic in me didn't buy it, so I stuck a foot in the water. I screamed. "Those fish are biting!"  That's when we noticed plenty of tourists and Thai people sitting alongside the water's edge, getting a fishy pedicure. Their toes dangled in the water,as the fish nibbled and pruned away any dead skin. Gross! And weirdly ticklish in a strangely painful way.

At the next falls, we quickly scooted past the hungry fishies who  waited by the waters edge.  We flung our bodies out into deep waters. The fish still bit, but with a bit less frequency! By the time we reached the fifth of Seven Falls we were spent. Wet and happy, we caught the last bus back to our guest house, ate seafood stew in the open market and followed with chocolate cream crepes for dessert. YUM!