Where to begin... I love Thailand!! It's been a fantastic week, and Thailand has moved to the number one spot in my list of favourite countries so far. Good weather, stunning scenery, amazing food, hassle-free markets selling beautiful stuff... and I just love the general feel of the place. I think my good impressions have no doubt been enhanced by the amazing hospitality offered by Patty (French missionary we stayed with in Chiang Rai) - we've felt so at home and well looked after. There was a French girl called Virginie staying there too so it's been great to get to know her and to be surrounded by French again and to have the opportunity to practise a little :)
It's been fascinating to have an insight into the work that Patty does, and the different projects she's involved with. We went to visit the "Drop-in Centre" twice, which is in Mai Sai (right on the Burmese border) and a place open during the day for street children to come and be fed/sleep/do games/learn English and Thai. The children there are all Burmese but aren't recognised in either their own country or in Thailand as they have no papers, and so many of them end up being subjected to sexual abuse and living on the streets. The workers there do such an amazing job and it was a really moving experience visiting. I loved helping the children with their English lesson, we did a bit of alphabet and number practice and they were really good! Also looked through some books with them, and played UNO and pairs - a lot of fun for all!
The two day trek we did was really amazing, I felt like I experienced and learnt so much in such a short space of time. The scenery was beautiful and I loved the patterns the bamboo trees made - all criss crossed and higgledy-piggledy as we walked deep in the forests. Despite my cautiousness I managed to trip over once... in the only patch of mud on the entire path! Fortunately there was a stream nearby so I could wash my hands and muddy trousers! Staying in the tribal village was very surreal and it's so hard to imagine that these people like that all the time. Their way of life is so simple and made me think a lot about what's really important in life and how in our culture we get so caught up in things which really don't matter at all. Our tour guide wanted to show us around the village a bit so took us over to one house, knocked on the door and invited himself in (with us in tow), not being bothered by the fact that the family had already settled down for the night and he had to turn on the light and wake them up! There was no furniture at all, just a fire in the middle of the room for cooking, mats on the floor for beds, and some tools hanging on the walls. But they were so smiley and as Nan kept telling us "happy people, happy people". On the way back down the hill on the second day we stopped off at a waterfall for a quick swim and I was very proud of myself for going in for the splash, despite the freezing temperature - I would never have done that at one time! I also braved sitting on the neck of the elephant...and stayed there long enough to have a photo taken to prove I did it! But not long enough to fall off...which I'm sure would have happened had I stayed longer, I felt so unstable!
Next...the food! I loooooooove Thai food! I've eaten sooo much this week, and mostly without sweating too as it's not too spicy! My fave is definitely Pad Thai. We've had some nice little snacks/deserts too and we can't get enough of the fresh pineapple...mmm...my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Little pancake things, sweet potato donut balls, honey toast and "ancient ice-cream" were all big hits and will be missed when we leave!
I was sad to leave the north of Thailand but glad we got to have a glimpse of Bangkok as well. I didn't have very high expectations given all the negative reviews I'd heard, but I liked it! It didn't seem as hectic as some places we've been and it was very easy to wander around (and would've been even easier if they knew how to make decent maps where roads don't just suddenly disappear!). The night bus down from Chiang Rai was an interesting experience... We enjoyed the milk and cookies handed out just after leaving and found the reclining seats to be very comfortable and easy to sleep in. We were slightly confused when woken up with a speech in Thai around midnight as we pulled into a service station, and didn't really know how the system worked with getting food and drink. People seemed to be handing over their bus tickets but when we did the same all we got was a shrug and a confused look, before being pointed to the toilets...eventually we managed to get a free drink but that was all before it was time to get back on the bus! The journey seemed to go really and I slept through most of it, until I was most unimpressed to be woken up by the assistant prodding me and shoving a handwipe in my face! Most unnecessary I feel, especially given that it got my hopes up that breakfast was coming... But I suppose I can't really complain as the ticket only cost about a tenner, you'd never get anything like that from National Express!
Goodbye Thailand, sob sob! See you again one day!
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