Thailand travels

First of all, let me clarify Rob's last post. The rats were not big, they were enormous and the size of Barone's cat. I still get the heebie jeebies thinking about them. They also headed right towards us in this dark alley. I have no idea what our guide was thinking except that we were taking a short cut back to the hotel. Save ten minutes of walking or be eye to eye with my biggest fear--he did not choose wisely.

A recollection of some of the more adventurous events in Bangkok--a city on steriods. There are over 10 million people living there and I think half were on the street outside our hotel last night. The Tuk tuk ride through Bangkok was memorable and was quite the short changing experience--if you know what I mean. The traffic was whizzing by us and all I could do was hang on and hope the driver wasn't having any suicidal thoughts.

We also went to the festival honoring the water goddess and floated a beautiful bouquet of flowers after making a wish or saying a prayer. I was confused and distracted by the people--did I mention there were quite a few--so made a wish and prayed. I think we did this after the Tuk tuk ride, but I am now covered if we go again.

Every day we saw Buddhas--there are 52 different poses. Religion and the King are a huge part of Thai life and they love to talk about both with reverence.

Food is still out of this world except tonight we had a "free" night and decided to get a pizza from an Italian joint. We usually eat some kind of fish, chicken, and then a soup with all sorts of colorful things floating around in it. At the market we saw bins full of fried worms, grasshoppers, and other creepy crawling things. I don't think we have eaten anything like that yet but who knows. Our guide was telling us about eating mouse since it feeds on the rice and is very healthy for you. Let me just say hell will freeze over before that goes in my mouth.

We are now in Chaing Mai, which is in the northern region of Thailand. We drove about 4 hours to arrive here and saw much of the country side. The people are amazing--very friendly and kind. We stopped to see them harvesting a rice field where they get all their neighbors to come and help. The farmer's wife- the size of an American 10 year old boy-- was walking towards us carrying food for the workers and offered us a fried banana after I took her picture. They all act as if you are their new best friends. I love it!


Tomorrow we are off to the Golden triangle near the Burma border. Elephant riding, trekking through the jungle, and a night stay in a remote tribal village is on the agenda. I doubt we will be near an internet.