Pad Thai, Massage, and Elephants. and Buddhas.

Tomorrow, we head out of Thailand and into Malaysia and the wilderness of Borneo.

Thailand has been an interesting and certainly dichotomous place to visit. There are Western restaurants next to hole in the wall, no English menu ones. There are Buddhists who would not kill an ant, and there are people who abuse Elephants to make money. There are areas where there are more farang than Thai people, and there are areas where we were certainly out of place. We have certainly enjoyed our time here, but we're ready to move on. One can only get so many $4 1 hour massages, after all.

Elephants are truly the symbol of Thailand, but in another strange contradiction, are dying out. As a proper goodbye to Thailand, we spent the day at the Elephant Nature Park, where a woman named Lek has made a sanctuary for abused and out of work elephants. The elephants she rescues come and live happily and work-free. There are 30 elephants (including 3 babies!) on a small piece of land.

It was a truly incredible experience. We fed them buckets of bananas, we bathed them in the river, we got wet vacuum suction strength kisses from them, we played tug of war, and we ran from them when they got scary. It was an amazing experience, one, just like elephants, we will never forget.

So, we say goodbye for now to Thailand, and on to new adventures in country #3....

Matt's skewer is a...

In the picture below, since so many people wanted to know, matt is holding a squid on a skewer that was grilled. Then he ate it.

Some of what we've been up to...

Who rides a scooter in Thailand?

The answer is: everyone. Old ladies wearing flowery dresses and stockings ride them. Twelve year old kids in school uniforms ride them. Working girls in suits ride them. And yes, we ride them. Well, Matt drives, and I ride. Better that way.

Motorbikes are a way of life in Thailand...they are easier to come by than any other form of transportation. Some people wear helmets, some don't (we wear the full face mask kind. Clearly the safest). Some people drive fast (not many) and some people drive really really slow (we're in the middle somewhere).

But the best part about having a motorbike in Thailand is the freedom to see and do what you want to see and do, off the beaten path. Chiang Rai isn't a touristy area to begin with, but once you get out of town, it becomes a completely off the beaten path experience. Because of our glorious and strangely powerful 125 cc Honda Wave, we have seen a temple that is completely white, covered in glittering mirrors. We have been on mountain roads that look down on terraced rice paddies (and had to wait for a quite a while due to cow traffic). We have been tea-tasting in the high altitude town of Mae Salong, and climbed 718 steps to a Wat on a hill. We got to go to a 210 foot tall waterfall hidden in national park (the motorbike couldn't quite make the trail, but it almost got us there). We have seen many a misty mountain and thatch hut in the countryside, and dipped our feet in many hot springs.

All because of the Honda Wave. Being on the motorbike makes us feel almost Thai...that and going back to the same pork bun vendor every single day (they are so GOOD). The Thai people value freedom and happiness...exactly what we're getting in these green hills.

Crickets

I ate one.

It was salty and crunchy, but otherwise unremarkable.

Probably won't be doing that again.

Monks are Friendly

The other day, while touring the many wats (temples) of Chiang Mai, we stumbled on a sign that said: "Monk Chat: Come talk to a monk and ask all your questions! Don't just stare and walk away!" Which, of course, is exactly what we had been doing, if not sneaking a picture from afar. We also had been constantly asking each other questions we knew we couldn't answer. For example: "I know there's a big Buddha in each temple, but why are there 8,000 little ones?" OR "What DO monks do all day, anyway?"

So, sheepishly, we approached monk chat and sat ourselves down next to a younger, friendly looking monk in particularly bright orange robes. Here are some of the things we learned:

- monks eat two times a day only. They can eat whatever people give them (they aren't allowed to cook). This could be pizza, or even a Big Mac (our monk's favorite, apparently).
- everyone in Thailand becomes a monk for at least a day. This guy just decided he liked it (and his orange robe)
- monks get up at 4 am to meditate.
- All those 8,000 Buddha's in the temple are gifts from random Thai people trying to secure themselves a good reincarnation.

Chiang Mai is a pretty old city where monks are part of the daily life, and appreciated by all the Thai people. Quite different from America, where religion is not something we typically put on display, and if we do, it's sometimes looked down upon.

We're headed to the countryside for a little jungle relaxation....we'll let you know how it goes.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

For this post, we'll be highlighting the last couple days in Bangkok and Khao Yai national park with a quick list of interesting stats.

• Elephants seen in the wild: 4
• Bats seen, en masse: ~2,000,000 (seriously)
• Other cool animals seen: Gibbons; macaques; chameleons; giant squirrels/sloths.
  
• Monks spoken with: 2
• Monks with a strange desire to be photographed with us: 1
• Street food stalls visited: Lia - 0; Matt - 5
• Unpleasant visits to the bathroom: Lia - 0; Matt - 3
• Karoke songs sung with the locals: Lia - 1; Matt - 0

Pictures tell it better, but the internet kinda sucks here in Ayuthaya.

Next up: Chiang Mai & northern Thailand, then off to Borneo (SCUBA diving here I come!)

Bangkok: Sweaty and Steamy

Good things about Bangkok:
- Thai Massage - $4 an hour = amazing. We enjoyed being turned into a pretzel and stepped on, plus it was extra funny to watch a petite Thai woman man-handle Matt.
- Tuk Tuks - for $3 you can go about anywhere in a crazy motorcycle/car cross-breed. It's crazy, jostling, but really fun. Bonus if yours has disco lights.
- Wats - incredible temples of gold, mirror, tile, Buddha images, and basically super shiny sensory overload.
- Food - You've all had Thai food - but here it's cheaper.
- Markets are everywhere, with every possible thing you can imagine (who wants knock-offs?)
- The crazy "brewery" we went to last night where the entertainment was different singers belting out American tunes dubbed over in Thai. The people were going crazy, dancing, and yes, even vomiting on the table afterwards (don't worry, a waitress was right there to hold a bag for the poor birthday girl). All in all, highly entertaining.

Not so good things about Bangkok:
- The nasty, steamy, thick toxic stew you breathe in every day. It feels like I've smoked for years.
- Getting ripped off. We've have to be constantly on our guard. Now that we can see it coming, it's become rather amusing...

SO I guess that means Bangkok has been a positive experience. We'll be back a few times, but for tomorrow, we are heading to Khao Yai National Park...

My First Street Food.

Chicken Pad Thai in Bangkok. 30 Thai Baht. Less than $1. Awesome!

We (were) on a boat, yo!

Or, rather, a junk. We were on a junk (which doesn't sound that cool but looks awesome.

We have just returned from Halong Bay, only the most beautiful place in the whole world. That might have been a judgement made under the influence of a few Bia Ha Noi, however, it was pretty incredible. Plus, we were on a junk!

Activities taking place on or near the junk included:

*Eating lots of squid

* Eating lots of shrimp.

* Drinking beer

* Kayaking in Halong Bay

* Seeing a monkey (and yelling at the kids who were messing with it)

* Going in a crazy crazy cave and seeing many rock formations (Our guide said, "See - see the cheek-en? There is a cheek-en there. See? The cheek-en")

* Jumping off the junk into the dark ocean (terrifying)

* Swimming in the warmest ocean water ever.

And again, we slept on the junk - and showered in a shoilette, which is awesome and strangley liberating. The picture is from the mouth of the cave overlooking the bay (which is huge and endless and filled with giant, looming, rocks). Plus, peep the junk in the left hand corner. That's our junk.