More Fun at Arenal

This morning we went to the school to meet the children, watch them dance, play games and take a tour of the school. Then we visited homes of local women who treated us to a home cooked lunch.

This is a big afternoon with a hanging bridges tour, a trip around Lake Arenal, and then to see the lava flows from the volcano. Wish us luck!

Things I Never Want to Forget about Thailand

OK, this is it--the last Thailand post! I am so incredibly grateful that I got to go and experience this beautiful country (thanks, Mom!).

What I'll never forget:

Ron, the best guide we could ever hope to have. He was sincere and genuine, funny and informative.

Food I did eat—water lily stems, morning glory vines (“moaning glory” on the menu), sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes over a fire, lemongrass salad, fried coconut milk, dragon fruit, pomelo (large white grapefruit-like), rose apple, sapodilla, deep fried fava beans, taro chips, jack fruit, ivy soup, loofah, lots of curries.

Wai—traditional bowing greeting meaning hello, good-bye, thank you, sort of like aloha. Where you hold you hands means honor. Lower for greeting children and servers, nose level for those older or that you honor and forehead high for Buddha. Women say “So-wah-dee-so-ka,” Men say “So-wah-dee-so-krup.”

They say that the Chinese eat everything with four legs except table and chair.

Forms of transportation—long tail boats, ferry, Sky train, hoochie bus, motorized trikes, elephants, raft, train, “stretch limo” tractor-trucks, rice barge.

There are three men’s sizes: Small—Medium— and Liar.

Food I didn’t eat—long tail chickens (rats or star, backwards), bird’s nests (literally made of swallow spittle), black chicken, fish stomach (blown up and crunchy), dancing shrimp (real live shrimp in sauce, jumping around, Brad ate it though), jungle curry, grubs (Brad ate these too).

No barking dogs. We saw hundreds of dogs, running free, who were not in the least disturbed to see 16 tall white people in funny hats, sunglasses with packs on their backs.

At the first temple we went to Brad got a fortune that read: A baby boy forthcoming—awww.

Happy Room—to visit the happy room, you might need happy money to buy your happiness. If not, you might be shooting the rapids for men, or picking the flowers for women (going outdoors).

They adore their king—Rama IX. There are gigantic (20 foot tall) portraits of him everywhere. Every home has a whole wall of portraits, no matter how poor they are. My personal favorite one is the one on the money, the king with a camera around his neck, no crown, no throne, just a camera. You must be very respectful of the money for that reason.

The cobwebs in the rice factory was overwhelming. They leave it because it catches the rice dust.

The wise monk telling us that we needed to learn how to calm our “naughty monkey mind.”

Motorbikes everywhere—the driver often wears a helmet, but the riders (including small children don’t), and they are often barefoot too.

At the market you can buy original antiques or genuine imitations.

The giant bat flying at night as we walked to dinner. Ron said it was a "night bird." But I saw it outlined against the light--totally a bat! Mom said, “It was as big as a seagull,” and I agree.

We saw a guy carrying a giant paper Mercedes down the road to burn for his ancestors.

When Brad asked if there were tigers in the jungle, Ron said, “No tigers, just Thai-girls.”

Riding along in the purple Hoochie bus, with Thai relaxation music playing, while I stare out the window at all that verdant lush green countryside going by.

All the things we did that were “not on the program,” things that Ron wanted us to see—recycled metals, a salt farm, sawdust & glue sculptures, tapioca.


The paper lanterns for Loy Kra Tong. The night sky was amazing with them floating as far as you could see.


The iron buffalos to prepare the fields for planting rice.

The cobras in liquor bottles in Laos.

Ron kept saying that we would be stopping to “visit our cousins”--wild monkeys in the forest. He brought peanuts to bring them out to play.

When we stopped along the road to see how the tapioca grows, Sandy Santa Cruz said to me, “That’s about as exciting as watching salt.”

We were astonished by the similarities to Costa Rica—the outdoor restaurants, the schools, the vegetation, the houses, everything.

70% of prostitutes died of AIDS—this has dramatically reduced the sex trade in Thailand now.

Everybody drinks their to-go drinks from little plastic bags with a straw sticking out—no cups.

The man holding the bamboo ladder while his partner was at the top leaning way too far to work on electrical line. His shirt said, “Safety First.”

If you buy something made of wood, especially bamboo, put it in the freezer for three days when you get home. We don’t want any surprises.

The king’s older sister, the Princess, died in January. They had her funeral this weekend (10 months later). Everyone was wearing black and white for three days in her honor. She was burned in a four story crematorium, costing millions of dollars, with the whole building.

Almost all of us, including the guide, driver, and bus boy, got sick. But we trooped right through it; almost everyone made every activity, only a few missed meals. We are tough cookies.

The bathrooms, even in nice hotels, had little ankle breakers. It was about an inch high step designed to keep the evil spirits from coming in.

Almost everyone has a spirit house and they are quite serious about them, at both homes and businesses. The idea is that the land has the spirit of everyone who lived there. You put food and drinks and flowers there to convince them to stay out of your house.


Oh. my. buddha!

Thailand, Final Section

The trip in the market border town of Myanmar (Burma) was eye-opening too. These people are very poor and the market was such a mishmash of people and items for sale. After that we floated on the Mekong River to Laos for the afternoon. Three countries in one day.

This is when everyone started dropping like flies. The sickness hit different people different ways, but it was all nasty. Some people missed a few meals, but almost everyone made it to every activity. A few people visited the silk worm factory and the lacquerware workshop (I missed it). After a stop at the Crystal Temple (spectacular!), we finally made it to Chiang Mai, a lovely northern city of 2 million people, where the weather is cooler and the countryside is beautiful.

Another highlight was the Elephant camp, where we watching a group of elephants form a band and another one painted a picture for us. Then we rode through the jungle and across a river on elephant backs. The small rafts were an enjoyable way to take in the scenery.

I learned so much about Buddhist life the next morning when we went to give them alms (feed them breakfast). Afterwards, we attended a lecture from a renowned Buddhist scholar, Phra Saneh Dhammavaro. I even bought his book. Later we visited one of the most spectacular temples high on a mountaintop, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.

We saw the silverware workshop and the gems—sapphires and rubies. Then we went to the handpainting place, where the artists will paint anything you bring to them—shirts, pants, purses, camera cases—all beautifully done in a few minutes. We had dinner at the home of a gorgeous Thai woman, who was gracious and welcoming to us. She showed us how to make our own Thai salad in a giant mortar and pestle, and then a delicious dinner. Some of us made the walk to the Loy Kra Tong festival near the bridge with a parade, fireworks, lanterns, and floating kra tongs.

The next morning we flew back to Bangkok. Six of us were brave enough to go to see the Lady-Boy show at the Calypso cabaret. I don’t know why they are so popular in Bangkok, but it’s a big thing there. It was fun, not too risqué.

Our last day, was a tour of the Grand Palace, where we got to see the changing of the guard. And the oldest temple in Bangkok, Wat Po with the colossal reclining Buddha. Our farewell dinner was aboard a river barge, floating past the Grand Palace, lit with golden lights, and the full moon rising above it.

Thailand, Part II

During the long drive north we drove through the rice farms, watching them us the “iron buffalo” to prepare the fields. Handpainted pottery workshop. Stopped by the crocodile farm. Visited a town market before having lunch on a rice barge during a downpour.



We got to see a little self-sustaining farm with a fish pond, ducks, a rice paddy, and fruits and vegetables. On this little 5 acre plot two people can grow enough for themselves and to sell to make a living. Then we visited a rice mill.




I loved the ruins of Sukhothai historical park with three temples and a beautiful walking Buddha. Also after driving through the teak forest on the way to Chiang Rai, we went to visit an indigo dyeing workshop. Everyone bought beautiful deep blue clothing. A stop at a reclining Buddha.




We rode tractor/trucks to visit the hill tribes. Here we had the privilege of seeing how these primitive people really live, even going inside their homes.

Thailand, Getting to Know You

There is so much to tell about Thailand that I am going to have to break it into smaller parts. Please have some patience with me as there is tons of information and over 1000 photos to go through. I'm working on it!

The beginning:

The first day in Bangkok, we went to the flower market, the fish market, and we rode the ferry across the river to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn. Taking a boat through the locks (like the Panama Canal), we went to the beautiful home of Jim and her husband. She showed us how to make red curry. In the afternoon, we went to see the Royal Barges Museum. Almost everyone attended a dinner theater with a traditional puppet show.

Walking through Chinatown was fascinating. They had black chicken (the meat is literally black). We toured the Jim Thompson house. Mr. Thompson was a British man who brought the silk trade to Thailand. He suddenly disappeared in 1964, just walked into the jungle and never came out. We rode the Sky Train back to our hotel. Later that night we went to the famous Pot Pong night market.

Driving to Kanchiburi, we stopped at a salt farm and a sugar factory. We were impressed with the teakwood carvings. One of my favorite parts of the trip, the Floating Market at Damnern Saduak. Walked across the Bridge on the River Kwai. Learned about the horrors of the POWs there at the war museum and the cemetery. We followed the train tressle to a large cave with a temple to Buddha. We stopped along the road to see how tapioca grows. That night we stayed in the remote resort, Yoko, lovely and isolated.

The next morning, rode the local train and then we hiked to Hellfire Pass, carved by the POWs there. Later rode a boat along the River Kwai, spotting brilliant turquoise kingfishers and lapwings. The afternoon was spent at a local school, Baanpuongka, with children 6-12 years old. They sang songs for us and performed traditional dances. We were treated to local foods and taught how to make little fish by folding bamboo leaves. Then we went to see a lovely waterfall. After dinner, were taught how to make floating kra tong. It rained hard in the night.