I had my first experience with Thai massage. It was incredibly intense but left me feeling so relaxed and stress-free. The style of it involves applying deep pressure with the fingers, elbows, and forearms, as well as stretching and pulling. Tonight, my hour-long massage was given by an excellent masseuse- she was the teacher for all of the masseuses at the spa that I went to. Ma told me that her monthly base salary is 500 baht (that is less than $20 per month) in addition to 20 baht per hour of massage (less than $1!). I asked her if she wanted to come back to the US with me as my massage therapist. She laughed kindly.

Reality Nights
Before our long drive home, we stayed at the house of a friend of Ma's friend. It was military housing as her husband is in the army. The house itself could probably be considered lower-middle class for the rural areas as it was concrete with a corrugated tin roof and running water. They had a stereo and a computer, and as most Thais do, a TV.

The second story had a bedroom big enough for a twin bed frame with a very thin mattress (where I slept), a bookshelf with old magazines, and a cloth "armoire" as a closet. The master bedroom had a queen sized bed with a mosquito net, a desk, and a similar armoire for clothes. The "family room" had a tv, a wooden bench, an old computer, and a picture of the king. Downstairs was a bathroom with the "floor" toilet (it doesn't have a bowl as it is built into the ground) and a spicket at about hip-level with cold water to fill the tupperware bowl for a shower. The kitchen table was outside under the porch (created by the master bedroom which was directly overhead) where it was protected from the rain. The wooden shutters on the window covered the ill-fit screen and mold was everywhere as it is impossible to keep it from growing on concrete, inside or out of the house, in such a wet, rainy environment. And the mother and son who lived inside the house were, of course, amazingly generous and so rich in spirit; they were very happy to have the four of us visiting, even though we used every clean towel and blanket that they had.

In giving this description, as with any of my blogs, I hope only to share as many details as possible of the circumstances that I have come to know. I don't have a picture of the house to share with you, as I didn't feel it prudent to be keeping that as a memory. Instead, here is a picture of the group of us in front of a sculpture of a lotus flower before it flowers at the local dam that we visited together.

The lotus flower is known in many cultures, (especially in Buddhism) as modeling the human attempt of reaching up to the divine, with roots in the mud and murkiness of material life. The lotus bud, untouched by impurity, is often helpful with meditation as it symbolizes the purity of heart and mind and represents long life, health, honor and good luck. In this respect, out hosts mirrored the idea of the lotus blossom as their beauty and grace were projected out from the status of their material world.

After the dam, we visited the oldest teak tree in the world.


On Tuesday, we visited a temple outside of Chiang Mai.


Picture of the week- Eating dinner at the river's side.

On the way back to Udon Thani yesterday, we stopped at a quaint riverside restaurant complete with background Thai music . Each "table" was a small, open-air room built over the water. The mosquitoes and ants were nice enough to take a break from me as their dinner (the big red ants are gnarly here!) and we had a relaxing feast of fried chicken bits with seaweed, som tum (spciy papaya salad, which became standard fare once they found out that I really liked it), sticky rice, and fresh cabbage, green beans, and a leafy veggie that tastes like black licorice. I also tried a new fruit that looked like grapes from afar, but had a thin, rough shell around the fruit along with the best dessert ever- fresh coconut pieces in gelatin inside of the coconut.

I'm now up in Chiang Mai in the north-west part of Thailand. The night before leaving, we went to "Paragon" which was a huge shopping mall in Bangkok. Unfortunately, Gucci was closed (open for appointment only) so I couldn't get another suit made there. Riiiight....Anyways, since I'm not much of a mall person or even a window-shopper, I got bored pretty quickly although I did enjoy the gourmet supermarket.

The drive up here was not bad. We drove half-way and stayed the night in a guest house before heading to a hot spring today. I got good and dirty with a mud scrub and now my skin is smoother than ever (price=150 baht or about $4). I love how low the prices for health-related goods and services are in Thailand. People really emphasize their health here. (Whenever we eat anything with garlic in it, Ma always says "for health!").

Now I'm trying to finish up my shopping at a market before going back to our guest house. Tomorrow we will do some sort of Thai-herb something or other... (I didn't really understand but I get the impression that it might be like a sauna or something else health-related).

From here, plans are (I think) to go back to Udon Thani before flying to Bangkok on Saturday morning for my flight on Saturday night. It will be a long 36 hour journey home, as I have a 12 layover in Seoul. Maybe I'll venture out of the airport for the day...

My stay in Phuket was short but sweet. The fabulous picture of me at the pool that overlooked the beach was my only two short hours of relaxation, as the next morning we left that hotel and went in to the town of Phuket for Rotary duties all day long.

First, we helped deliver 885,000 baht to 11 local fishermen who were affected by the tsunami (about $22,000).
They will get brand new boats or repairs done to old boats which will enable them to get back in business. This was made possible by four Rotary clubs- Laurie Beach Sunrise, East Idaho Falls, Magkang, and Phuket.

This is a picture of me introducing myself to the group (in English of course and then translated by Ma)-

Afterwards, we went to lunch with the District Governor (DG) and several other leaders in the Rotary Club of Phuket at the "Islamic" restaraunt of the President. I was surprised to learn that about 80% of the Thai population on this island are Muslim, which explains why I see so few Buddhist shrines here. Many women use the traditional head scarves to stay covered up, which is such an interesting contrast to the flood of tourists who walk around in shorts and a tank top.

Afterwards, we went to a ceremony for the change in leadership for the Interact Club (a Rotary-sponsored service club for high schools).

I was so pleased by the presence of so many Rotarians- three of the 6 clubs had their presidents their, as well as the DG, and about 10 other Rotarians.


That evening, we went to the installation ceremony for all 6 incoming presidents for the Rotary clubs on the island. This is a picture of me with some Rotary Youth Exchange high school students. You can tell by our jackets that are covered with pins that were gifts from Rotarians or other exchange students from around the worl that we get to meet a lot of people!


One of the clubs, in Patong Beach, is comprised of mainly foreigners and conducts their business in English. It was amazing to see the slide show of all of the work that these 6 clubs have been able to accomplish on the island since the Tsunami struck.

The following photos are from Kamala Beach. It is a smaller area and not damaged as much as some other beaches on the island, but almost all of the building that were here were obliterated and had to be rebuilt.

Although many of the shops, schools, and houses have been rebuilt, empty lots or newly beginning construction sites are pretty normal to see around the island.

This plaza is only finished halfway-

One of several monuments on the island-


While talking with the new president of the Patong Beach Club, he said that rebuilding the infrastructure on the island is pretty much complete and that luckily, the hilly geography of the island kept many parts of it undisturbed. One thing that the club has identified as a source of need which will be ongoing, is to offer educational scholarships to young children who lost one or both of their parents in the tsunami and cannot afford the low cost of education. His club is currently sponsoring about 250 children which will guarantee them schooling throughout grade 12.

Yes, these are my feet!



I'm in Phuket! We left Bangkok this morning and arrived here mid-day and ate lunch near Bang Tao Beach, which was destroyed by the tsunami a year and a half ago. All of the buildings were new, as well as the four-lane road, which replaced the old two-lane street. (This is much safer, considering the way that the Thais drive!)

Tonight we will stay at the Aquamarine Resort and Villa (http://www.aquamarineresort.com/), which is owned by a local Rotarian, and tomorrow we will go into the town of Phuket in order to take part in a celebration to give a new fishing boat to some local fisherman who lost their boat in the tsunami. The boat was made possible by a Rotary Club in Idaho.

As usual, I was a bit confused about the plans. We came down to the beach for dinner and ended up eating in the mall. This was a bit of a strange decision to me considering where we are at, but dinner was great nevertheless, mostly because the travel companions for Ma and I are the President of the Magkang Rotary Club (my host club in Thailand) and another member.

Right now, I'm waiting to go back to the tailor because I am having a suit made for me at a shop owned by a local Rotarian. I placed the order two hours ago and the jacket, trousers, and skirt will be ready for me when I leave on Saturday morning. Total cost= $150. Not half bad for a tailor-made suit.

I think that today was the most beautiful day yet in Bangkok. Instead of smoggy, cloudy skies all day, we enjoyed an afternoon of Reno-like clouds and breeze. It was still very hot and muggy, and besides sweating a liter, it was great.

We woke up before 6 and were out of the house by 6:30 in order to go to a temple in Bangkok. What a difference it was from the forest temple, as about 50 people showed up with food to share. Instead of offering all of the food to the monks, we put a spoonful of rice into their alms bowl (which they mostly dumped back in to a big pot because they had too much) and then they got the rest of their food from the buffet line. Literally.

After the eldest monk blessed the food and all of us, he blessed some water in a pot/chalice-like cup that we each had as an offering so that "all people, dead or alive" would have food.

Ma and I then went on a bus for two hours to get to the other side of Bangkok to get to the Emerald Buddha Temple, which is probably the most revered temple in all of Thailand. It's main relic is a jade Buddha statue that was discovered in the 15th century (hence the name of the place, as all Thais call any green stone "emerald"), but there are many building, including a royal residence, a meeting area, pagodas with the ashes of former rulers, and a museum full of royal regalia and old coins.

At the museum, I learned that the king who is reigning in Thailand is the longest reining king that they have ever had (60 years this year!) and is currently the longest reigning monarch in the world right now. And let me tell you- the people here loooove him. Since I am from a country where democracy decides a new figurehead every 4 years, I don't easily identify with the regard that they have for him but actually I find it quite intriguing. Their dedication to him, however, was exemplified when Ma wanted to spend two hours in line to be one of fifty people allowed to buy two comemorative coins produced to celebrate His Majesty's 60th anniversary of his accension to the throne. Well, the two hours paid off, as we were the 50th people in line. She was so excited she screamed!

After that, we went to Chinatown and then I went with Tee to a Rotaract meeting which was very interesting mostly because their club is a university-based club and structured much differently than ours in Reno. Although it was unofficial, this was the first meeting of the new Rotary year. They are planning their first camp of the year (they have three every year- the 1st one is the shortest at 3 days, the 2nd is a week, and the 3rd is 14 or 16 days). They are in the first stages of deciding what their service project is going to be (most likely planting a mango farm in a nearby province) and will serve as a major recruitment tool in August.

Happy 4th of July!

No BBQ or beer for me today. Instead, I went to an island in the middle of the river that runs through Bangkok to visit a town that is known especially for its pottery.

During a motorcycle trip around the island, we happened upon the shop of a famous craftsman who has been commissioned to create works of art for the Royal Family of Thailand. His intricate creation are made out of clay and fashioned into pagodas, deities, the royal barge, etc. Most take hundreds of hours of work.

Here I am with the artist and his father along with several pieces in the background-

Last night we went to the theater to see a Thai stage musical. It showcased many traditional Thai dances, games, costumes, music, and folklore and was very creative and dramatic. Its theatrical style and costuming was similar in style to the "Lion King" on stage. They had an elephant, goats, chickens, and even a real river built into the stage!

Although no cameras were allowed during the show, I did get my picture taken with one of the stars of the show-

And yes, that is a new hair color. It was an attempt to differentiate my 'do from Tee's. It cost about 300 baht for the dye at the store (about $8) and 100 baht for the hair stylist to put it in for me ($3), with a total of $11 (which is actually more than the 300 baht hair cut in the most famous salon on Thailand). Most likely I will dye it back to my original color before going back to the US because I am even less fond of it than the cut!

Anyways, tomorrow is another early morning. We will go to a temple in the city and help prepare breakfast for the monks that live there. I must dress in traditional "temple wear"- a long black skirt and a white shirt with sleeves. I'll pack something else to change into because tomorrow is bound to be another hot and humid day in Bangkok.

I had a much-needed Thai massage in the mall today (30 minutes for 100 baht or aboout $2.80) because yesterday wreaked havoc on my shoulders! I wish I had pictures to share with you of my kayaking adventure but we left all of our cameras in the car so that they wouldn't get wet.

The day started out normal. We had breakfast in the hotel (I ate a fresh salad because they are hard to come by- all of the veggies are usually fried here) and were on our way in the caravan of people to the river.

We were one of the first cars to arrive and we had the choice to go on a river raft or kayak. Tee and I chose to kayak with the guides and everyone else filled up the rafts. While waiting for more people to arrive, we practiced in the water. He had never been in a kayak at all and I have only been in one once in Lake Tahoe, which was much calmer than the Class III-V rapids we were about to face.

Soon enough, we found out that there were not enough guides so go down with us in two-person kayaks so Tee and I would have to go together with me in the back to control. I was a bit unsure of that but once I saw how bad everyone else was, I felt a little bit more confident because Tee and I made a good team.

The group started out down the river and after the second rapid, we had to wait for the others who were already falling off of their boats. When four more boats came succesfully, we were told to go on ahead so we did.

We hit a pretty decent sized rapid and fell off. We got back on succesfully, however, and hit the next one. The next stretch was fairly calm so we decided to wait. We saw some empty boats coming down the river so we scooted to the side in order to relax.

After three boats and six oars passed us with no people in them, we started to wonder what was up. I remembered seeing quite a few people on the embankment taking pictures of us at one point so we began to think that that was where we were supposed to stop.

So we went slowly down the river and rested periodically by the side to see if the people who had gone on the rafts were down there. But we turned back around when no one was in sight and the brush began to thicken and the river began to thin. We went upstream hoping that by then someone would be coming- maybe one of the guides to come find us? But no one showed.

By this time we were back at the last rapid we came down and there was no way we were going to be able to paddle up it, so we turned around again and found a place down the river. I already had blisters on my hands and the both of us had cuts from the branches that were attacking us from all sides, so we found a spot to climb out and headed to what we hoped would be the road.

Well, it wasn't. It was a huge cornfield with rocky soil that we had to carefully pick our way through (since we didn't have any shoes on) to get to the road. Someone happened to be passing by in his tractor so he gave us a ride back to where we needed to go.

By the time we got there, everyone had already left, including most of the guides! They just figured that we would be ok I guess and when Tee told them the story they were just like "Oh". And apparently, if we would have continued we could have gotten very hurt because the rapids down the way were extremely big and dangerous. I don't think that the helmets we wore would have kept us from breaking any bones. :-o

Early Saturday morning, Ani (the eldest of host sisters who is 22), Tee (my exchange partner), and I began a two-day adventure to Saraburi province which is famous for its waterfalls, steak, and farms.

But first we went to a temple where a shrine was set up for a tree trunk whose guardian angel haunts the area. Legend has it that the tree was cut down in order to become the first ceremonial post for the creation of Bangkok as the capital. (Hundreds of years ago, when a new town was to be built, a huge hole would be dug and a tree would be cut down and used to smash a person at the bottom of the hole. This ceremony is no longer practiced.) After it floated down the main river and finally reached the right area, another tree had already been used. The tree stump then floated against to river's current and finally stopped at this area where a town already existed. Since the people of Thailand believe that each tree has its own female guardian angel (remnant from the traditional rural beliefs), the village people created a shrine for it in order to show respect.



After that, we moved on to different shrine where the "footprint" of Buddha is kept. When I saw it, I thought that the translation was bad and it was supposed to be the "foot path" of Buddha because the enshrined area was about 18 inches deep and two feet wide, but Tee confirmed that for a long time it was actually believed to be the print of Buddha, but now it is seen more for the idyllic aspects of it.

The silver, glass and gold staircases (from left to right) with 5-headed dragons gaurding them and the temple up top for the Buddha's footprint. Legend has it that if you make a wish at the top and don't breath until you get to the bottom, your wish will come true. I held my breath the whole way down the silver staircase...



Contrary to what you might think, this is not a picture of me. It is actually Tee- we just have the same haircut! He is ordering some flaky bread with different fillings (taro, chicken, bean, or pineapple) that is characteristic of this province-

River Market/Tourist Trap

Before cars, rivers were the major source of transportation in Thailand. Only in a few places does it remain popular and it is mostly for tourists. On Friday, we went to the river market early in the morning.

Just settling in on the boat and getting ready for our excursion-

We navigated through many canals and finally reached the market with international patrons only. Prices were outrageous (800 baht for a silk shirt or about $21) but since Ma was with me, I was able to get things at a reasonable price (3 silk shirts for 750 baht or about $20). The market itself was small and few of the vendors were actually in their boats- most of them were in an open-air building right on the river.

She is making the tastiest coconut pancakes I'll ever have-


After the river market, we went to see the second largest pagoda in the world (the largest is in Malaysia) where there is apparently one of Buddha's bones, but we didn't see it because I got lost from the group while I was taking the following picture of a studying Monk-




Finally was the trip to the wax museum, "Human Imagery Museum" as they called it. This is me with all of the kings (from Rama I to the present Rama IX) of Thailand (Siam).

And these are some children in traditional garb with traditional hairstyles playing a game.


Studying chess moves.




Me and Abe just chillin'.


The figure on the bottom left is not a wax figure- her name is Risa, she is a past President of the Prahnburi Rotary Club and owner of a golf resort in Hua Hin. She is paying her respects to the figure of the monk.