Last Days in Thailand

Once again, I'm behind my computer in a hostel in Bangkok staring at a blank page pondering a way to condense my scattered thoughts into a legible blog post. There is no way I can recount all the details of this deeply personal and transformational trip, but a few more photos and some text should aid in the thought organization process. Here we go!

Since the time of my last blog post I've eaten more food, I've seen more mountains and open road, I made friends with some wild dogs, I slowly backed away from some other wild dogs, I almost fell into the Chiang Mai mote but was saved by a tree that decided to give me a hug, I got really sunburned while hitchhiking, I saw my first wild manta ray, and I learned the importance of silence and self-reflection.

This first picture might be the only photo I have of myself from the entire two months. Thank you Rich. I'm grateful for this capture of my candidly curious and dazed expression that led me through Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. Unlike the caving I'm accustomed to in the US, we didn't do any crawling in this cave. There was more aimless gazing at the ceiling. Picture a heavenly light passing through a collapsed roof about 200-feet above, with sparkling dust particles that seem to swirl in the excitement of the continuous rays. The illuminated concave rock faces and stalagtite-stalagmite pairs seem to take you back in time, imagining when the cave was actively flowing with water.

Caves really make me aware of the insignificance of human-time, though I am grateful to be alive and able to explore them as they are today.

The hike up to the cave was about 500-meters in elevation that rose nearly vertical from from sea level. Thankfully, a slightly less vertical winding stairway was cut into the rock to allow access to the cave entrance. The views of the bay were absolutely stunning!

At the bottom of the trail head we encountered a large family of monkeys. I think watching monkeys has become a favorite past time. They are intelligent, curious, and have the funniest range of facial expressions. I captured one here, but I have no idea what she is looking at! Though this monkey was shy and a tad fearful of humans, my first experience with a monkey in Thailand demonstrated the cheeky nature of these child-like creatures. Just a week earlier I was enjoying a cup of tea when out of nowhere a monkey dropped from the sky. onto the roof of the truck parked next to me. Without warning the monkey flipped up the left windshield wiper and proceeded to brake it in half. Sort of stunned, I quietly shewed it away, but five minutes later, I turned around just in time to see the monkey brake the right one! An interesting movable contraption had succumbed to monkey mischief. 

Below are some photos from one of the many open-air markets of Thailand. I love that most of the meat and seafood that you buy here comes from local sources. This particular area had a small fishing community and it was common to see tables of fish out drying in the sun. I'm not really sure, but I think these kind of fish are used for soups and fish sauces. Most of the fish for sale at this market were actually still alive and occasionally flopping on ice. Super fresh.

Here are some pig heads, I don't know what people do with pig heads... I tried to ask, but I didn't want to seem too interested because I think my inquisition sounded more like I was attempting to buy them. Possibly the heads were just to indicate that what you were buying was actually pork. I don't eat meat frequently, but when it comes to the street food here you aren't really ever sure what you are getting. Pork seems to be a staple, beef is much harder to come across, which ironically contrasts with the number of cows I've seen physically in the road in Thailand. My first time driving a motorbike involved me carefully avoiding a stray cow, free range indeed.

One of the things that I really like about the markets here are the large number of vendors that sell various ready-to-eat soups and curries. It would be an interesting twist if our farmers markets were open daily and had more fully prepared local meals to choose from.

Ayutthaya ruins...