Merry Christmas

I feel as though my life has been in fast motion since I wrote last and truly it has been filled with some amazing adventures and funny stories which I will share with you. I really will be writing two blogs in one to get caught up and post some great pictures from the past 1 ½ weeks.

My friend Lana arrived the day after I finished my Thai massage class. The day she arrived we jetted around Chiang Mai getting organized to leave on a trek the following day. My dad had gone on this trek and highly recommended it so we signed up. It was such an amazing experience! I don’t even know where to start. The trek was south of Chiang Mai about 4 hours by car in an area called Sopmoei-Mai Sarlang area. There was nothing touristy about this trek. What it was about was experiencing a hill tribe village and what their every day lives consisted of. The three days consisted of hiking with packs/sleeping bags on through tropical forest, jungles, through the water along waterfalls and through a cave with bamboo lit to guide the way. The first night we stayed with the Poe village people in the headman’s home with his family. We had amazing food cooked for us and tasted some rice whiskey which wasn’t too bad…missing some good red wine here in Thailand 

We slept on bamboo mats outside the “deck” under mosquito nets and woke up to roosters at the crack of dawn-not that we got much sleep on the hard surface anyway! We set off to hike more on that day going through another village and a school where the children were playing a game called “sempattakrol” which was like soccer played over a lowered volleyball net. It was a lot of fun to watch and a couple of our trekking group joined in with the kids. Speaking of our group and crew; we had a great group of people; Thomas and Sarah from France, Juan, Imma, Jochen from Majorca, Spain and of course the Americans, Lana and myself. Our tour guide was Ropooh who was an amazing guide. The Poe people are his people so he not only speaks the language but knows all about the culture and also living in that environment. He was very knowledgeable about uses for various plants and fruits to help with things like a sore throat and bleeding. There was even a leave that you could blow bubbles with. We also saw some pretty scary spiders, tree mice but luckily no cobras. We also had Elvis(not his real name but he had it on his shirt so thus he become Elvis for the trek) as our driver and a few of the locals Poe villagers who carried most of our food, carved the bamboo, and cooked our meals. Not only that but they fished with nets, caught frogs, and they even caught a rat in the middle of the night that we guessed they ate at some point. Nothing is wasted.

On the second day we hiked back down to the river(we had had a steep hike up the previous day) and crossed the river a couple of times and hiked along the river until we arrived at our 4 star river front accommodation. It was like Gilligan’s island meets Robinson Crusoe. We unpacked, took a swim in the river and sunbathed on rocks(well I did at least) and hung out while our guide and locals made our eating utensils and cooking gear all out of bamboo. We ate this amazing Thai vegetarian meal consisting of three different dishes and cooked rice all done on the fire in bamboo. We were all so quiet while we devoured this delicious meal. For entertainment, Thomas who is a professional dancer, tried teaching us salsa on the bamboo floor….not too easy to maneuver but we had fun and laughed a lot.

Once again we slept on the bamboo floors and had to hike to the toilet(squatters) in the middle of the night. The next morning we had eggs cooked in bamboo, fresh fruit and toast. We packed up and started our hike for the day which consisted of many river crossings, along waterfalls and the finale a 20 minute hike up river through a cave. It was incredible. After some more hiking uphill we had a great Thai lunch all wrapped in bamboo leaves. After lunch we had a short hike and unfortunately our trip was coming to a close. We headed back to Chiang Mai and joined up with our group for one last meal together.

The next day, Lana and I had planned to do a cooking course at an organic farm about 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. Thomas and Sarah, from our trek, joined us and we had a great day of cooking and eating Thai food with a fun group of people.

On to Christmas! We had organized a guide and car to head up north to Chiang Rai, The Golden Triangle and over to a mountain town called Mae Salong. Our driver showed up with the gal from the office who booked our tour(who was actually his wife and we were informed she was coming along as well) Lana and I went along with the flow even through the car seemed a bit rough and as the day went on our driver manipulated most of the day so instead of going on a 4 hour boat trip along the Meekong river we only went for about 1 hour but did head up to Mae Salong for the night which ended up being a wonderful place. It is a Chinese hill village where they grow oolong tea and have wonderful views and lovely cool nights. That evening Yo (the driver) took us up the very steep hill to the temple to see the night view. Once back in town we stopped to get something at 7-11(yes, they are all over Thailand…no kidding) and the car wouldn’t start. We figured he’d get it fixed and we’d be off in the morning….or so we thought!

Christmas morning we got up early to climb the 718 stairs to the temple for a wonderful view. On the way we ran into Yo and he informed us that the car needed a part so he was on his way to Chiang Rai and would be back and ready to leave in about 3 hours. We figured Mae Salong wasn’t a bad place to be stuck so we hiked the temple, walked around the morning markets and the town enjoying the day. Yo finally got back and informed us he had to go back to get another part. By this time we were ready to leave and see the sights we had planned on so Yo had to hire another car/driver to take us to Mae Sai(border to Myanmar) the Golden Triangle where we took a speed boat over to Laos for a short shopping excursion. By this time, still no word from Yo who was supposed to meet up with us and we would continue to Chiang Rai and back to Chiang Mai. We started getting nervous and wondering if we’d ever get back that night. He did indeed fix the car and we met up with him to switch cars and head back. The clincher was that Yo ended up borrowing 2000 baht from us to pay the other driver.(We really did wonder if he'd really pay us back but he did)It was the longest drive! We had to stop often and he had to mess with the engine but FINALLY we got back to CM. Not really the Christmas we had planned but an interesting one to say the least.

The next night was the 26th and we got an overnight bus to Bangkok. I’ll stop here because my brain and hand need a break and post some photos from these adventures and will work on the next blog very soon.

I hope you all had a great Christmas!
View photos at:www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/ChiangMaitrek
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/ChiangRaitour

Can Elephants really paint?

I'm up early and doing last minute note reading preparing for the exam from my second week of my Thai massage course. It has been great! I've learned a lot..too much really...and the hope is that I don't forget all of it before I return home. I just need to practice, practice, practice.......I'm sure I won't have too much of a problem finding volunteers. The past two week have been very physical as well as intellectually simulating. We do yoga, tai chi or qi gong every morning for an hour then learn new postures in the Thai massage sequence. I'm pretty beat by the end of the day.

That said, I really haven't seen much aside from the center city of Chiang Mai and the neighborhoods surrounding were I'm living. I did go to a couple of places last weekend with my dad and his friend Bill. On Saturday we went to the town of Bantawa where they do the detailed wood carving and it's a cute little town with many, many shops to tempt you. On Sunday we went to one of the elephant parks which was fun but very touristy. They train(and you wonder how they do this..which I don't like) the elephants to do all sorts of things like play soccer, twirl hoops and even paint...no kidding, that was amazing! You can see on the photos. You can feed the elephants bananas and bamboo and sit on their knee and they will take a hat and put it on your head. We also went to a snake show (which wasn't my idea but I'm the one in the photo with a cobra around my neck!)and unbelievable that these Thai guys handle pythons, cobra and other dangerous snakes.

What I've really enjoyed is just walking and taking in the culture and the people. They are so friendly and helpful. My friend, Lana, arrives today from San Diego and we have some great things planned for the next few weeks. I will be in touch.

I just want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and know I will miss you but honestly am not missing all the hype of the season...just missing friends and family. I hope 2010 is a wonderful year for everyone.
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Thailand

Another World

Sawasdee Kaa from Thailand...hello that is! After a long flight from Glasgow to London and then into Bangkok I went to get my bag and it never came! Here I am in Asia thinking OMG, I'll never get my bag but I overcame that thought and trusted it would but it's horrible being without your toiletries(luckily I thought to pack an extra set of clothes into my carry on)especially your mosquito repellent when they love me! My bag did arrive 24 hours later but by then I was so bit up, I don't know if I'll ever be the same. Why I didn't think to go buy some I'm not sure but that'll teach me :)

So, what does one do the first day in Bangkok? I always like to just orientate myself into a new place and I decided to just walk and see what there was nearby. I wandered along the streets taking in everything that was so foreign to me but even in spite of the craziness of Bangkok city, I felt good thrown into this new culture. The people are so gracious and friendly, they never hesitate to smile at you and at least try to understand what your trying to say. I stopped and got a leg and bikini wax for about the equivalent of $11. Mind you, I didn't know what I was getting myself into and their standards for cleanliness are no where near like the ones we have in the states(which is an understatement) so if I thought too much about it, it was a bit frightening but all was just fine. Later that day I received my first real Thai massage and it was great!(about $10) I figured I should get at least one traditonal Thai massage before starting my Thai massage course in Chiang Mai.

I ended up meeting the Canadian twins(two women traveling together who look like sisters) and had a great time with them. We struck up a conversation on the street and we can some great conversations about travel-they had some great stories-and life and I ended up spending most of the evening with them until I was absolutely cross eyed from jet lag.

The next day I had arranged for a overnight VIP bus to take me to Chiang Mai. This was also the day of the Kings birthday in Thailand and a HUGE party was going on. Getting to the bus station on a Tuk Tuk(A Three wheeled vehicle that are open and can maneuver in and out of traffic and is quite the knuckle gripping ride!) The bus ride was 10 hours and it was quite nice actually as they served you snacks and played a movie dubbed in Thai that was SO loud that I ended up watching a movie on my computer to try to drown out the sound. The Thai LOVE thing loud!

I arrived at 5:00am and made my way to my home for the next 2 weeks. I'm staying at a guest house walking distance to the massage school I'm going to and I started that today. It feels like a lot to take in but I think I'm going to enjoy the program and learning a new skill. I've met some nice people from all over the world and I truly love hearing their stories. One American girl from California(massage therapist)had planned a 6 month trip to Costa Rica and 5 years later she's still on the road! She lives part time in Greece and is the only Massage Therapist in town and also has family in Spain so is applying for dual citizenship.

I will be here for two weeks and then my friend, Lana from San Diego, comes for Christmas and New Years. I excited to have her join me and get out of the cities and see the country side and beaches down South. We will also stop back into Bangkok and see some of the famous temples and other attractions that Bangkok has to offer.

I finally have my London photos to share with you. As you'll see I had one amazing day in London and the photos from the London Eye and the river boat cruise came out really well. Thailand photos will follow soon. Hugs to you all!
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/London

Men in skirts?

Where else would you see four good looking men in skirts? Scotland of course! I attended a Ceilidh last Saturday. In the old days in the Highlands of Scotland “ceilidh” is Gaelic describing a get together or meeting. Now, it is used to describe a gathering of people who dance the dances of Highland.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I had a great time! There was a Ceilidh band called “Gallus” and they rocked. They were the good looking blokes with black kilts on worn with a sporran(a purse basically) and black boots and the lead guy wore an "ACDC" cap worn backwards. He also played an iridescent purple fiddle and it sounded amazing.

The group ranged from 10 years(only a few youngsters) to 80 years old-yes, some older men in kilts as well. The dances were called out so one could easily follow the steps...well, after a few rounds anyway. During the breaks they had these four young women dancing the traditional highland dances very professionally. It reminded me of “River dancing” that the Irish do and it was very energetic and entertaining. I ended up dancing most of the night and came away nearly bruised on my arm from being swung around in “strip the willow” where you basically go down the line or the group of people and swing just about everyone round and round. What was great to see is most everyone participating with huge smile on their faces.

Unfortunately, being totally out of the “travel mode”, I forgot my camera. There was a man who was at the Ceilidh that is a photographer and he gave me his website to view photos of the event. When I checked last, he hadn’t posted the new event but if you like to check out his website, go to: www.caledonianphotographic.co.uk
If you go to gallery then events you should see something like “Lanark Ceilidh dance 2009”

So, my time has come to an end in Scotland and I’m off to Thailand today. I’m very excited for warmer weather and also for a new adventure. I have had such a great time of rest and connection with Scotland and family that I feel ready to move on.