Play, Practice, Learn

Thailand – December 5

Yesterday Yul took me up the mountain to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep,the sacred temple outside of Chiang Mai. The temples here are based on a blend of Hindu myths and deities and Buddhist philosophy. We took his 1968 Austrian jeep which looks a bit like a Hummer. It appears there were only 1000 produced. Needless to say, we got lots of attention on the road. We went past the president’s house, past the Hmong village that everyone else apparently goes to… to a very remote Hmong village. We arrived at lunchtime and drove up to the school. The children bring their own rice, the teachers cook lunch for the students, courtesy of the government. FYI, the Hmong are one of the hill tribes of Thailand. They also live in Cambodia, Burma and once lived in Vietnam, buts that’s another story. (They fought for us in Viet Nam, and we airlifted them to the US after the war.) The village has electricity, but only in the school and some shops. The houses are simple, a central space with a fire going in the center. It gets pretty cold up there. Piglets and chickens roam free. We saw a number of women doing embroidery work. Most of the teens and young adults have left to work in the city. Before we left, Yul bought sodas for the group of kids gawking at the car.

It is cool and stunningly beautiful on the mountain. The surrounding jungle is filled with birds, bird watchers with zoom lense cameras and mountain bikers. When we retuned, Cecile got her Thai masseuse to work on me for 3 hours! I’m more sore from her than from the elephant ride.

Early this AM I practiced yoga with the young Thai woman who studied at Stanford. Then went with Pom (the chef at Tonnam) to the local marketplace. We had breakfast there which basically meant she told me to eat something, and I did! Sometimes it was tasting greens to identify them, in Thai for me and English for her. Sometimes it was a fruit I’ve never tasted, then something grilled that we ate with sticky rice and seaweed sauce. Whatever it was, it was good. Later, I went alone to a different market and ate lunch without her guidance, and found more good stuff. Most of the street food here is great, if not always identifiable… Turns out I ate sauteed and filled rice flour patties and a vegetable filled flat noodle, rolled up with a sweet sauce. Most of the foods are wrapped up in pieces of Palm leaves and secured with a toothpick. Tonight 4 French people showed up. We all cooked dinner together, pad Thai, Thai salad, soup, and meats and vegetables cooked on a grill at the table. It was a very lively evening.

Tomorrow yoga at 7, then into the old section of town.