Where Life Has Taken Us

 Never say never.  If someone had told me two years ago that I would be teaching in Egypt this year, I would have thought that they were crazy.  If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be traveling in Thailand this month, I would that have sworn they'd lost their mind.  I should learn to "expect the unexpected" I guess.  Here I am writing about my travels in Thailand, on what should have been an exam day at my school in Egypt.

Tom and I arrived in Thailand on Saturday and have been loving it ever since.  We spent the first three days in Bangkok, shopping, eating (cheap and delicious Thai food), and getting foot massages (ok, one foot massage, but it was great!)  We don't typically shop when we travel, but when we left Cairo last week we planned on spending a few days in Frankfurt, then either going back to Cairo or Canada.  Neither of these options required summer clothing.  It's HOT in Thailand!  Luckily the purchase of three pairs of shorts, two pairs of flip flops, two sarongs, a bathing suit, and a summer dress cost just under $50.  Shopping can be tiring though, so I think that we deserved our $10 hour-long foot massages that evening.  Did I mention that I'm loving it in Thailand?!

We also visited the Grand Palace, former residence of Thai Kings.  It is in a complex with many Buddhist temples.  I don't think I'd ever seen buildings that are so ornate.  Unlike most Cathedrals or Pharaonic temples which are mostly grey or beige stone on the outside, these temples were extremely colourful, decorated with coloured glass, mirrors, and gold leaf.  It was quite unique to me, and very impressive.

On Monday night we took an overnight train to Chiang Mai, a city in Northern Thailand.  We spent the first few hours chatting with a couple from New Zealand, and turning down beer from the really enthusiastic Thai "train attendant".  Tom did have two, but he would have had a 2-4 if he`d have accepted each offer for ``beer, beer, beer, beer... wannanother beer?!``  We got a decent sleep on the train and arrived in Chiang Mai around 11am, giving us enough time to find a hostel then go out for lunch. 

We spent the afternoon walking around the city, in which there is an abundance of temples.  I think the only thing we saw more of than temples are "Sevies'"  (for those non-Corwallites, those are 7-Elevens.)  You wouldn't believe how many there are in Thailand.  We also booked some of the many tourist activities available in Chiang Mai:  a full-day cooking class, and a two guided day trek through the mountains around Chiang Mai, to ride elephants, bamboo raft, and visit many villages.

Thai cooking class was AWESOME!  Although the `menu` was very meaty, they offered a vegetarian option of every dish for those tree hugging backpackers like us.  Tom and I made 6 different dishes each.  We each got to make an appetizer, a salad, a soup, a stirfry, a curry paste, a curry dish, and a dessert.   We got recipe books for everything we made (and more!), and each tried to take notes.  Surprise surprise, Tom took pictures of each of our twelve dishes.  We`re not counting our dollars from his career in food photography yet, but I`ve learned not to discount any possibilities these days!  The food was delicious, with the highlights (for my palate) being the Chiang Mai noodles (a red curry), cashew stirfry, spring rolls, and deep fried bananas.  We`ve already talked about having dinner guests for some delicious and authentic Thai food when we get home to Canada.  We still have no indication of when that will be.


We`re headed out in about an hour for our mountain trek.  Whether you like it or not, the pictures will be coming soon.  I hope that everyone can now agree that we are not sad refugees, but instead we are happy vacationers.