22/3/02 Camping Near Burmese Border Phillip
I'm cold! So it was a bit of a crazy trip in. The Monk (Phra Kityano) showed up at the hut in a 4x4 jeep! Nothing about this trip is how I expected it to be. Anyway, basically there are 12 of us including a dentist, mechanic, etc. It's a crazy group of Thai's! We drive for hours on nothing more than dirt paths in the jeeps. On the way two windows were broken and the jeeps really are taking a bit of a beating. I'm riding with the dentist, the Monk and a lovely Thai lady who's offered to come and live in America and cook for me! The entire group is honestly lovely. Ever since I've left Bangkok I've really begun to appreciate how great Thai people are. In Bangkok you generally only meet people who are trying to get something from you, but here they try and give what little they have. Oh yeah, as we drove in the extra petrol on top of the jeep opened and poured all over myself and the Thai lady (I can't spell her name). That was quite an experience topped by the mechanic smoking as he cleaned the petrol up!
We're camping in a remote nature reserve, the only others we see are park rangers so it's cool to be out here. We have a guide with us who's a specialist on the area and as we drive he'll point out the interesting things, Monkeys, plants etc... He doesn't speak English though so it's a bit of a challenge to understand what he's pointing at! The scenery is fabulous, driving along cliff faces and through rivers. We even stopped to bathe in a river today! The scenery is quite different from last week when Dave and I were traveling on the Death Railway over the Bridge over the river Kwai. Here it's more of a rain forest and quite dense at parts. We're still looking to see elephants and tigers but none yet.
One thing that I have learned is that Thai people snore! Also they will pick their nose almost constantly :) I didn't get too much sleep last night due to the snoring but also sleeping on the ground is difficult. Although I have to admit that the hard ground is far more comfortable than sleeping on the hard wood at the Monks place! I actually have bruises on my hip! I didn't pack well for this trip because I had no idea we'd be in a forest! In fact I have my snorkel and goggles for scuba Diving! Ho much more wrong can I be?
The Monk is really cool, totally not what I expected a Monk o be. He knows his technology, for example yesterday he asked me if my CD player also played MP3's! Dave and I both laughed and I offered to fix the Monks computer for him, which is the least I can do!
It's very cool to get this experience of Thai life. They live such a humble life, very peaceful and serene. They welcome you into their home but you have to be very careful with the etiquette. This is especially true with regards to the Monk, we've committed quite a few taboos but we're learning. Even taking pictures is difficult as we learned when we stood behind him, which is considered disrespectful. The group is being very patient and the Monk just tells us why it's not good and we don't do it again. I know I will remember Thailand from this experience, so few ferangs (foreigners) get to see this part of Thai life and I really do feel honored.
Posted by Admin at March 25, 2002 09:53 PM