Tag Archives: thailand

Bye Pai!

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Pai is a pretty special place. Tucked away along the river a place where people come and go and stay. Lil shops, handmade goods, lots of smiles and friendly hellos-yummy street food from lil puffed black rice tortilla s with sweet milk and sesame wrapped in a banana leaf, mooya-a pork sausage marinated in lime chilli sauce, lil custards, so many yummy treats. Waterfalls, hot springs, elephants, and every night a party and multiple Bon fires–secret farms in the jungle and sunset scooter rides.

The older Thai man that runs my guest house has been here for many many years-last night when I got home he was carving diligently on one of the beams of his bungalow-a work he says that is never finished. He told me about how his grandmother used to put out an open jar at sunrise and all the Mosquitos would fly inside she’ d then cover it and place it in the sun- once they all died she would feed them to the fish -at this point his eyes welled with tears and he sat there with me crying. It was touching. So nice for him to share his stories with me about his grandma.

I have a long journey ahead of me for the next three days. In an hour I board a bus that takes me to the Thai-Laos border and in the morning we cross over and then board a slow boat that goes down the Mekong River for a day and a half and then another bus and I’ll arrive in Luang Probang by 5pm-two days from now. I have two new books and a dress to sew by hand so I think I’ll be kept busy in the mean time* I was going to have a dress made I’m Thailand for $180 but then I found all the fabric I needed for $10 soooo I have made it my new project. All afternoon I’ve gone around town collecting beads, ribbons, needles and thread ($3)to help me along. It will be nice to have something fruitful to work on.

After Laos I was going to head to Cambodia but that really depends on how the current border dispute goes. Some tanks and soldiers are hanging around and I prefer to go no where near them. Lol. We will see.

Telah went back to NYC and we have had some good fun-but from here out I’m headed off alone but I’m sure I’ll meet some friendly people wrong the way.

Much love, creation, and adventure to all of you.

Xo

-=ali*

Brilliance

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So many days spent in
The sun, in houses with no walls, in oceans with perfect brilliance, on small boats navigating multiple and opposing currents, on land glowing from the moon, in the jungle lit by fireflies, on the rock this whole island was built upon being washed away by the forever crashing waves.

Beautiful swells of amazing and enlightening humans enjoying every moment of each place their feet touch the ground–grounded yet flying, breathing and living fully, wishing not for anything more.

Settling In

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Today was the first sunny blue day here for me which was about 3x hotter than yesterday. After home made bread and jam was sought out this morning (and so necessary) a bumbling but successful trip to Wat Chana Songkhram occurred where Telah and I were blessed by a monk under the watchful eye of Big Budha.

As we twisted through the back of the temple gates we found sweet dogwood blossoms floating through the air and stumbled upon the cutest lil table of dates and tea and rice-happily perched on a picnic table between temple spires and the most resonating of gongs.

Pricing of goods is beginning to make sense and a greater awareness and understanding if I’m being taken advantage of VS getting a good deal is starting to become more clear. Luckily I’ve only had to pay stupidity tax a handful of times lololol.

I’m impressed by the amount of goods available all the time all around me here. Oooh and today we got to see the fishies that eat your dead flesh! They tickle lolol.

The food here is super yummy with an explosion of complex flavors-milky, spicy, sweet, and delicious! I even saw someone eat crickets and grub worms today–they skipped the scorpion though which I was hoping they d try. Maybe by the end of the trip I’ll give that a shot 😉 I am however VERY excited for my (morning swim and) milky rice and mango breakfast tomorrow!! Hooray!!

Tomorrow night we have an overnight ferry to Ko Pha Nga and will spend about a week in a nearby beach. I’m not sure what our Internet or electricity options will be there so I figured I’d get in a lil update now.

I hope you all are as thrilled as I am that I can upload photos straight from my phone!! Enjoy!

May every day be an adventure no matter where you are.

Xo

-=ali*

Khao San Rd

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Walk on the left, use the stairs on the left, people drive on the left–my western brain is bring rewired with each step.

I found a clean and tasty looking street vendor and fashioned my worse “sawade ka” thus far and the lil Thai school girls behind me burst into giggles. I turned around quick –laughing with them cause I totally blundered. They helped me order and directed me to the least spicy of the condiments 🙂

A few things I observed today is that the rats are bigger, hairier, and blacker than NYC, the cockroaches are taller and longer then the flying ones in Texas, and there’s about as many cats here as there are at the Roman Coliseum.

However our roof top pool is pretty sweet, the people are friendly, and everything around you basks in the glow of the King. Canals, flowers, and temples–Buddhist Monks chanting in gold mountain echos all through the city streets while frankincense wafts through the air–even the crows are into the vibration and started mimicking their chant!!! Daily offerings of flower and fruits abound– all in one sunrise and one sunset.

Xo

-=ali*