Holidays abroad

It's Christmas morning and Thailand is barely swayed from it's normal activities. Sara and I woke up and exchanged cards. I gave her a shell belt from Bali and she is treating me to a massage and suana, something we've been planning for today for weeks. We had a huge breakfast at a buffet and all the patrons were wishing eachother well and chatting with us and each other more than usual to the sounds of Jingle Bells in various languages and Little Drummer Boy at an excruciatingly slow speed. I miss the smell of pine and the trivial joy of stocking stuffers and I know that at this moment, my family and relatives are gathered in a mountain house exchanging gifts and drinking wine, probably talking about me being here. Tonight, more of my family will be lighting the first candles for Channukah and eating latkas, mmmm. But by then, I'll be waking up again for a new day. It feels good to know that life is going on without me in it's beautiful rhythm of habit and tradition. Makes the contrast more dramatic and the idea of home an inner comfort. I am still recouperating from a cold I developed in Hadd Tien. My last words there were a whisper but my voice has come back and my cough is limited to the most uncanny moments, like when I'm in the middle of sipping a Singha or trying to speak Thai. Sara and I have had a turmultuous week. We rented a motor bike in Thong Sala and learned how to drive it while also trying to stay on the left side of the road. Right turns were hard because you have to cross traffic instead of turn directly right. For a while we were just making left turns to make it easy. We found a Wat nestled in the hills and had a picnic with Buddha. Then in was off to Chiang Mai. The first portion of the journey, a ferry to the mainland and a night train to Bangkok, was good. We were in the sleeper cabin and had beds so the 17 hour ride didn't seem so long. In Bangkok, we had five hours to kill and ended up finding China town and a huge spread of street vendors crowded into alleyways that were only wide enough for two people at most. So many tantalizing and retched smells, roasted poultry and boiled animal innards, pounds and pounds of herbs and mushrooms, sweets and spices, jade jewelry, lanterns and fireworks, clothing and cheap watches. I was exhausted by the time we found ourselves back at the train station. Maybe that is why we bought third class train tickets for the night train to Chiang Mai. We were scruntched on a one and a half person sized bench with another person across from us, liquids sliding to and fro on the floor, passers by knocking my elbow, merchants going up and down the aisle singing their wares even at two in the morning when everyone was slumped over, necks bent downward. I was coughing to the point of becoming a serious dirsruption when our neighbors passed me some herbal cough suppresents. Being polite, I accepted, but to my chagrin they tasted like rotting fish. It was a rough night and arrival in Chiang Mai at 6:30 AM couldn't have taken longer. Note to all future travellers, the night train in thirs class should be avoided at all costs. No, no arguing, don't even think about it, trust me. But Chiang Mai is sweet and feels like a flat San Francisco. There is an amazing night market that I cannot resist spending all the money in hand at on the most beautiful handmade goods. Things that cost $100 are less than $5 here. It makes me forget all my ranting and raving in protest to Target and Kmart back home, reminding my unassuming friends and family of the starving children and sweatshops they are supporting. Maybe here, people recieve a better profit, but still, it seems like the Thai merchants probably exploit their own people just as much as Farengs do. All the same, me spending money here in any way is better than not at all. I should go now, heading to the Sauna as a Christmas treat. Sushi is our dinner destination. It couldn't be more random, but satisfies the once a year holiday spoilage. Happy Christmas and Merry Channukah

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