Let's Get Wet
It's the middle of the hot season here. The oppressing heat and humidity generally sucks the will out of you. A reprieve is found in the Thai New Year, called Songkran, which is also known as the Water Splashing Festival. After asking around a bit, I decided to head to the central Isan city of Khon Kaen. Isan is not so busy with tourists and as a poorer more rural province, I figured if I wanted to party Thai style, this would be a good place to do so. How right I was, it's got to be one of the best parties in the country.
The official festivities lasted three days, but the water throwing (or playing as they say here) went on for about five. I spent the holiday wandering the streets making friends with Thai and expats alike. There were three main activities to partake in, and I certainly experienced them all.
The craziest by far involves circling the city in the back of a pick up truck. The beds of the truck are filled to the brim with both people and giant buckets of water. The goal is to get as many people wet without severely injuring yourself by doing something silly like falling out. It sounds easy enough, but I counted at least three time when i almost fell out, and all before i had one beer. While I managed to stay in the truck, I did not leave unscathed. By the end of the festival, all my fingers were nicked up, not too much damage. The water throwing was great, and since I was in a truck full of Americans we got lots of attention, especially when we were crawling through traffic, which was always.
Since it's so hot outside it generally feels pretty good being wet the whole time. But some malicious folk (in this case the truck of Americans) go to the ice factory to ensure their water is frigid. All in the hope of getting the maximum reaction possible. The result is always funny, as people scream and yelp once soaked with this water. It was much less funny when it happened to me, and once the sun was down, it was just mean.
Khon Kaen closed off a several block stretch of their main road, which was filled with stages for live, yet mediocre music, in addition to numerous street vendors. Strolling up and down the street was always a good time. When I was tired of walking, i would sit and watch the crappy bands, and the associated bouncing teenagers, or go to a large barrel of water located at the side of the street and get passersby wet. The highpoint of the walking street was the celebration at dusk. Everyday for a couple of minutes, the whole street, probably somewhere in the vicinity of ten to twenty thousand people did the wave. And then fireworks were launched.
Basically, it was a giant street party where everyone participates. As the trucks cost down the street they would be attacked and attacking those on the street, where hoards of people set up little party stations with food, music and barrels of water. It was all great, but I especially loved dropping in and playing with the various groups on the streets. It was great eating BBQ chicken and drinking whisky with some older redshirt supporter, and i also loved dancing on the street to a combination of traditional Isan music (think very bouncy) and American hip hop with some teenage kids, or just having water fights with little kids (I usually let them win).
What made this holiday so great was the festive spirit showed by all. I was approached to eat, drink and play by all walks of life; older protesters, middle-aged women with children, ladyboys, high school kids. The later in particular were in full force, it seems the total population of 10-20 year olds were on the street dancing and drinking. For a reason that I'm not quite sure, another tradition of the holiday is to put baby powder on your hands to pad other's cheeks with. It is an honor to have the powder applied to you in this manner and many were quite pleased to convey this honor to a bearded white person. Surely many of whom had previously touched neither. The biggest powder purveyors were once again the teenage boys who were clearly using it as an excuse to touch pretty girls. On more than one occasion, I saw a lovely young women descended upon by a group of giggling guys. All she could do in her defense was smile and thank them for the honor.
I'm really glad that i chose to stick around for Songkran. It was awesome to be part of such a festive celebration and definitely a highlight of my time in Thailand.
Attacked by Boars, Chased by Elephants
With Songkran over, I planned on heading over to Laos (I'm currently writing in Vang Vien), but since time is not at a premium, I figured I would head to one more national park before making my move. Phu Krudeung, is only three hours away and sort of on the way north, so it wasn't so much of a detour, plus after several days jumping up and down in the street, I needed some spiritual cleansing.
It sounded like a good plan, but I found myself questioning the decision during the first hour of my five hour ascent to the plateau. It's probably because I was a bit hungover, hadn't eaten for the day, started my hike at 2 and was walking in some major hot, humid stickiness. Let's just say the first hour was really tough. In no time I sweated out the toxins (my shirt was completely drenched) and once I got some food in me, I trudged up the mountain in reasonable time, actually feeling pretty good. Apparently, hiking in heat is a good cure for a hangover.
The camping site is huge, with tents and cabins setup, easily able to hold a thousand people. Once I settled down, I was greeted by a thunderstorm. I scampered off to eat and was finally ready for bed. Just as I was turning off my flashlight, i noticed a large shadow creeping around my tent. Two seconds later, that shadow, a several hundred pound boar was running into my tent trying to get in. I'm not sure what he wanted, I didn't have any food with me, but I was glad when he stalked away after his failed entry.
The next day I decided to head out towards one of the many waterfalls on the plateau, but I was blocked at the entrance of the trail by a sign which read, danger wild elephants. I was skeptical of claim and proceeded to make my way down the trail. About fifteen minutes later, I heard some major rustling in the trees nearby, then I heard some angry (i think it was angry) pacing. At this point, I turned tail and headed straight back for the trail head. There were wild elephants, and I didn't want to see them. By this time the thunderstorm returned just in time to completely drench me. Fortunately the heat had me dried off in no time.
Even though I struggled on the hike, was attacked by a boar, almost annihilated by an elephant, I'm very glad I went to the park, it was nice.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
More Protests
I continue my slow ascent into Isan awaiting Songkran. This afternoon I spent two hours going north to Khon Khen while traveling in a completely full bus. It was so full that they threw me and my closest nine friends in the baggage compartment. Half the guys passed out along the bags, three more held the door slightly open so we wouldn't suffocate. The ninth guy (a full sized man) sat on my lap for over an hour. It was not comfortable.
The Water Festival doesn't officially start until Tuesday so in the meantime I thought I would amuse myself with the other festivities currently taking place, the protests. I expected to completely miss them as initially it seemed they would be localized to Bangkok, but they appear to be spreading, or at least preparing to spread. As I'm in the capital of the province it only makes sense that this is where mobilization is taking place.
An estimated 25,000 registered with the local redshirts in the central park today. There's currently a long line of people turning in simple information sheets with their mobile numbers and email addresses in preparation for a call for demonstration. They're also getting their picture taken, not exactly sure why. I spent the evening mulling around and trying to get some local commentary on what's going on. While there's a peaceful demonstration in the park. A stage has been setup for local leaders to talk (unfortunately, I have no idea what they're saying), and maybe a thousand people are around listening to the speeches and just hanging out. Honestly it has a bit of a carnival atmosphere as there are lots of food booths and the kids are playing on the exercise equipment. There was an odd age distribution in the park. I would say 95% were over 45 with the remainder being unaccompanied kids. Who knew it was the middle-aged and elderly that would be the source of dissension.
I quickly exceeded my knowledge of Thai (first I asked where the bus station was, and then I asked how much x cost) and found a couple separate people to chat with regarding the demonstrations and their opinion of what's going on. Here's a quick summary of what I heard tonight.
The coup four years ago was illegal and unnecessary, it was a power grab by the Democratic Party who don't like Thaksin. The following election was falsified. With the People's Party disbanded twice and eventually winning the majority and yet not being able to form the government. Half of the People's party tricked the voting populace and left to join a coalition led by the current Prime Minister Abhisit. The recent court case and corruption charges against Thaksin are totally ridiculous. He was grossly wealthy before he was the PM, and didn't use his office to further his wealth. That's just silly, why would he do such a thing? The charges were trumped up to kick him out of government and keep the people down. Finally the people have had enough and want their true democratically elected leader back. The Democratic Party knows that previous elections were valid and if they ordered elections today, they know they would lose. So, the Democratic Party will do everything to prevent the coalition from falling apart and ordering new elections. Including purposely shooting at and killing unarmed civilians. The protests have been completely nonviolent, the military is trying to intimidate the people and will go to all causes to keep them down. Protests will escalate, and we expect a change.
With a number of people already dead, I don't think this is going the right direction. While the holiday is set to begin, I think that's not going to stop the demonstrations, if anything I expect an increase in fury as holiday= free time+ alcohol. Not exactly the recipe for quelling dissension. We'll see. I'll try to post some photos soon.
The Water Festival doesn't officially start until Tuesday so in the meantime I thought I would amuse myself with the other festivities currently taking place, the protests. I expected to completely miss them as initially it seemed they would be localized to Bangkok, but they appear to be spreading, or at least preparing to spread. As I'm in the capital of the province it only makes sense that this is where mobilization is taking place.
An estimated 25,000 registered with the local redshirts in the central park today. There's currently a long line of people turning in simple information sheets with their mobile numbers and email addresses in preparation for a call for demonstration. They're also getting their picture taken, not exactly sure why. I spent the evening mulling around and trying to get some local commentary on what's going on. While there's a peaceful demonstration in the park. A stage has been setup for local leaders to talk (unfortunately, I have no idea what they're saying), and maybe a thousand people are around listening to the speeches and just hanging out. Honestly it has a bit of a carnival atmosphere as there are lots of food booths and the kids are playing on the exercise equipment. There was an odd age distribution in the park. I would say 95% were over 45 with the remainder being unaccompanied kids. Who knew it was the middle-aged and elderly that would be the source of dissension.
I quickly exceeded my knowledge of Thai (first I asked where the bus station was, and then I asked how much x cost) and found a couple separate people to chat with regarding the demonstrations and their opinion of what's going on. Here's a quick summary of what I heard tonight.
The coup four years ago was illegal and unnecessary, it was a power grab by the Democratic Party who don't like Thaksin. The following election was falsified. With the People's Party disbanded twice and eventually winning the majority and yet not being able to form the government. Half of the People's party tricked the voting populace and left to join a coalition led by the current Prime Minister Abhisit. The recent court case and corruption charges against Thaksin are totally ridiculous. He was grossly wealthy before he was the PM, and didn't use his office to further his wealth. That's just silly, why would he do such a thing? The charges were trumped up to kick him out of government and keep the people down. Finally the people have had enough and want their true democratically elected leader back. The Democratic Party knows that previous elections were valid and if they ordered elections today, they know they would lose. So, the Democratic Party will do everything to prevent the coalition from falling apart and ordering new elections. Including purposely shooting at and killing unarmed civilians. The protests have been completely nonviolent, the military is trying to intimidate the people and will go to all causes to keep them down. Protests will escalate, and we expect a change.
With a number of people already dead, I don't think this is going the right direction. While the holiday is set to begin, I think that's not going to stop the demonstrations, if anything I expect an increase in fury as holiday= free time+ alcohol. Not exactly the recipe for quelling dissension. We'll see. I'll try to post some photos soon.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Thai Demonstrations
Isn't it ironic that I leave a country like Burma and come back to this political mess in Thailand? Part of me wanted to stay in Bangkok and try to see the protests firsthand. But Bangkok is very hot, and I didn't feel like getting stuck in that city any longer. Plus, I'm not exactly impressed with the redshirt cause. The demonstrations seem to be a show of power and unrelated to their stated concern, an election two years ago. They're trying to bring back a political leader who defrauded the people of several billions of dollars, not exactly a good guy. About six weeks ago he was convicted by the highest court, and belongs in jail. But what do I know? Power to the people, right?
I did have a discussion with a redshirt taxi driver on my way out of Bangkok. He was much more interested in talking about women and trying to convince me to go to a strip club (it was 9 in the morning) than about politics. After a long debate we resolved that Thai women are often beautiful but I will not be going to a prostitute, and he should drive me to the bus station.
Out here in Isan, it's life as usual. Last night there was a ladyboy pageant in the public square. Like the protests, I did not participate.
I did have a discussion with a redshirt taxi driver on my way out of Bangkok. He was much more interested in talking about women and trying to convince me to go to a strip club (it was 9 in the morning) than about politics. After a long debate we resolved that Thai women are often beautiful but I will not be going to a prostitute, and he should drive me to the bus station.
Out here in Isan, it's life as usual. Last night there was a ladyboy pageant in the public square. Like the protests, I did not participate.
Back From Burma
Dear Friends,
The last several months in SE Asia have seen my acquire new skills; learning to scuba diving on a Thai island filled with half naked Swedes, motor biking on dirt roads in the dirty Delta of Vietnam and massaging (professionally trained at Wat Po) in the stickiness that is Bangkok. When I had enough of such activities, I decided to go to Burma; not for some idealistic reason of uncovering some great evil, or the fantasy of communing with a more simplistic life, just because I heard it was a fun place to visit where the people are very nice.
My plans were met with an equal amount of intrigue and horror. Intrigue from those interested in hearing first hand what life was like in this secretive country, horror from those who saw Rambo 4 (the bad guys in the movie are Burmese, and they're really really bad).
There were many arguments not to go, issues of safety, the fact that some of my funds would go towards supporting the regime, the boycott pronounced by Aung San Suu Kyi. But none of these reasons troubled me. I figured I wouldn't be allowed to travel any place unsafe. The leader appears to have renounced the boycott, and I calculated that the regime got no more than a couple hundred bucks from my trip. A tiny amount in comparison to the trade with China and India. The real dollars supporting the government come from natural resources like gems, gas or timber If you ever bought a ruby or something made of teak, the likely source was Burma. In any case, I came little scared and left well rewarded.
Facts of Life
Before I get to what I liked about Burma, a couple facts of local life. The poverty of the country (per capita GDP is less than $1,200) combined with a ruling junta, who attempt to rule in iconic junta fashion (corruption, oppression, and idiocy) make day to day life here a bit different. Not shockingly so, but enough to notice. What do I mean? In every town I visited, electricity is spotty. Blackouts are such a normal occurrence, I saw more generators than refrigerators. Mobile phones are rare and very expensive, with a number costing somewhere between $1,000 -$2,000. Home phones are also rare outside of main cities and telephone booths (girls on the street with a couple phones and convoluted wire connections) are the primary, although expensive form of communications. Internet connectivity, while more present then I expected, is very slow. This is due in part to the government taking screen shots every five minutes. Cars are old and uncommon, gas is expensive and transportation costs are higher than reasonable. To have a car here is a real luxury and the prices are ridiculous. A twenty year old corolla is priced somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. New cars, meaning anything manufactured in the past twenty years are nonexistent. Several years ago gas prices quadrupled, which in part led to riots.
The real kicker for me s the banking system, maybe this is because of my dorky economics background and avaricious, capitalistic nature. In fact there are two separate sectors here. The local Burmese banks, which offer such revolutionary services as atms and backed deposits (although the depositor's interest rate is negative- you have to pay the bank to take your money) and the international banking system, which doesn't exist.Transactions between the two systems are costly. This forces any medium or large scale operation or middle income family to have banking accounts outside of Burma. I guess one advantage of a nascent banking sector means no financial crises; you can't have financial crisis without a financial system (actually that's probably not completely true). All of this culminates in a cash based society. One where the official and unofficial exchange rate aren't so close. Officially it's $1 to 6 kyat, unofficially it's about $1 to 1,000 kyat. I can proudly say that I have illegally changed money on the black market with the assistance of of sketchy, Indian man with red teeth, wearing a dress (more about that momentarily). I was happy to check that one off the list.
The Face of Oppression
I laughed at Rambo, but I was still hesitant regarding the government. Aside from one night in Rangoon, when we encountered checkpoints every couple of blocks, the presence of soldiers was much less than expected. For the most part they were completely unintimidating. Mostly older men, in uniform, flip flops, and more likely to be drinking whiskey (which is cheaper than beer) than carrying a weapon. The other defining feature was their lack of smile. in a country filled with people grinning ear to ear, a smile from a solder was not a common sight. It seemed the biggest component of the people's dislike for their government was the total and complete corruption of all it's members. Police checkpoints are setup to extract bribes. Businesses cannot operate without paying local tips. Government lifestyle is clearly a step above because of this taxation. The capital was recently moved to a newly constructed city, complete with a replica of the country's most famous pagoda. At some point on this trip, I was likely followed, but I didnt' sense it. Many locals reflected a similar mantra, 'Burmese people good, Burmese government very bad,' the second half always in a whisper. On several occasions when I disclosed my nationality I was asked the prospects of an American invasion. None I said. If we were in the business of toppling corrupt governments there would be no end to our work, and would have to turn our eyes on some of our own. Incidentally, am I glad I missed the whole health care debate!
As I traveled around the country, and saw the local economic conditions, it's hard not to make comparisons. Is the poverty here worse than it's neighbors? Are Burmese worse off than those in rural China, the Delta region of Vietnam or the NE Thai region of Isan from where I'm currently writing? I doubt it, if so, then not by much. Burma like the rest of the region has a serious urban/rural divide. Is their government worse than it's neighbors? For sure, but it's not like the region is bustling with success stories. Just look at the most 'stable' country in SE Asian, Thailand, which is in the midst of some major demonstrations to bring back the former PM who happened to be deposed several years ago in a coup and was recently convicted of defrauding and embezzling several billion dollars from his country.
It's hard not to feel sorry for the people here, maybe a tad more than elsewhere I've been. The main way to improve your stock here is to sell out your people and work for the government. At least in other countries there's some hope of pulling yourself out of poverty. If that doesn't work, you can go with the every popular failsafe of marrying a white guy.
It's the People
I thought there were only several sites here of much interest. The Schwedegon Pagoda in Rangoon is spectacular and the ancient temples of Bagan are interesting, although nothing compared to the magnificence of the Angkor ones, but the real fun comes from the kind and inviting nature of the Burmese. For a people that have so little, they are extremely generous. Everywhere I went I was met with big smiles, shouts of hello and hospitable invitations.
The food and the people felt like a combination between India and China. I alternated between Indian curries and Chinese dishes, both of which were yummy. The people had a very unique, traditional style. Both men and women wore traditional sarongs called longyi. Women and children would also wear a face cream called thanaka made from the bark of local trees. This cream is a natural sun block, thought to be a skin moisturizer and is also applied in attractive designs (see my pictures for examples). The men, while wearing the longyi(think dress), would constantly be chewing betel nut. The result was a red staining of teeth and gums and the everpresense of little pools of red spittle, not so pleasant.
It's hard to exactly translate what was so enjoyable about traveling here. I think I can reduce it to the fact that people were extremely friendly and welcoming, excited to meet and greet foreigners and wanting to share their country and experiences with us. In some cases this was shared with families over food, watching soccer games or WWF wrestling at local tea shops, making faces at children or playing a game of Burmese hacky-sack. Everyone was constantly smiling, and quick to laugh. Who wouldnt' want to go to places where you feel honored and adored? In summary, see Rambo 4, it's laughable and go to Burma, the people will make you laugh, either way it's smiles all around.
I'm trying to continue my positive rural experience here in Thailand. After a couple of days, I've moved quickly to the drier, poorer, more celebratory Isan region. The traditional Songkran Water Festival begins on the thirteenth. Hopefully my training in shaving cream warfare will have properly prepared me for water battle. Over the next couple of days, I'll try to be filling in some stories from the past three months, in between having water fights and flirting with local women. Should the updates not come, I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the two is preventing. I've posted some pictures of my trip to give you a glimpse of my experience http://picasaweb.google.com/avinagel/Burma#
The last several months in SE Asia have seen my acquire new skills; learning to scuba diving on a Thai island filled with half naked Swedes, motor biking on dirt roads in the dirty Delta of Vietnam and massaging (professionally trained at Wat Po) in the stickiness that is Bangkok. When I had enough of such activities, I decided to go to Burma; not for some idealistic reason of uncovering some great evil, or the fantasy of communing with a more simplistic life, just because I heard it was a fun place to visit where the people are very nice.
My plans were met with an equal amount of intrigue and horror. Intrigue from those interested in hearing first hand what life was like in this secretive country, horror from those who saw Rambo 4 (the bad guys in the movie are Burmese, and they're really really bad).
There were many arguments not to go, issues of safety, the fact that some of my funds would go towards supporting the regime, the boycott pronounced by Aung San Suu Kyi. But none of these reasons troubled me. I figured I wouldn't be allowed to travel any place unsafe. The leader appears to have renounced the boycott, and I calculated that the regime got no more than a couple hundred bucks from my trip. A tiny amount in comparison to the trade with China and India. The real dollars supporting the government come from natural resources like gems, gas or timber If you ever bought a ruby or something made of teak, the likely source was Burma. In any case, I came little scared and left well rewarded.
Facts of Life
Before I get to what I liked about Burma, a couple facts of local life. The poverty of the country (per capita GDP is less than $1,200) combined with a ruling junta, who attempt to rule in iconic junta fashion (corruption, oppression, and idiocy) make day to day life here a bit different. Not shockingly so, but enough to notice. What do I mean? In every town I visited, electricity is spotty. Blackouts are such a normal occurrence, I saw more generators than refrigerators. Mobile phones are rare and very expensive, with a number costing somewhere between $1,000 -$2,000. Home phones are also rare outside of main cities and telephone booths (girls on the street with a couple phones and convoluted wire connections) are the primary, although expensive form of communications. Internet connectivity, while more present then I expected, is very slow. This is due in part to the government taking screen shots every five minutes. Cars are old and uncommon, gas is expensive and transportation costs are higher than reasonable. To have a car here is a real luxury and the prices are ridiculous. A twenty year old corolla is priced somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. New cars, meaning anything manufactured in the past twenty years are nonexistent. Several years ago gas prices quadrupled, which in part led to riots.
The real kicker for me s the banking system, maybe this is because of my dorky economics background and avaricious, capitalistic nature. In fact there are two separate sectors here. The local Burmese banks, which offer such revolutionary services as atms and backed deposits (although the depositor's interest rate is negative- you have to pay the bank to take your money) and the international banking system, which doesn't exist.Transactions between the two systems are costly. This forces any medium or large scale operation or middle income family to have banking accounts outside of Burma. I guess one advantage of a nascent banking sector means no financial crises; you can't have financial crisis without a financial system (actually that's probably not completely true). All of this culminates in a cash based society. One where the official and unofficial exchange rate aren't so close. Officially it's $1 to 6 kyat, unofficially it's about $1 to 1,000 kyat. I can proudly say that I have illegally changed money on the black market with the assistance of of sketchy, Indian man with red teeth, wearing a dress (more about that momentarily). I was happy to check that one off the list.
The Face of Oppression
I laughed at Rambo, but I was still hesitant regarding the government. Aside from one night in Rangoon, when we encountered checkpoints every couple of blocks, the presence of soldiers was much less than expected. For the most part they were completely unintimidating. Mostly older men, in uniform, flip flops, and more likely to be drinking whiskey (which is cheaper than beer) than carrying a weapon. The other defining feature was their lack of smile. in a country filled with people grinning ear to ear, a smile from a solder was not a common sight. It seemed the biggest component of the people's dislike for their government was the total and complete corruption of all it's members. Police checkpoints are setup to extract bribes. Businesses cannot operate without paying local tips. Government lifestyle is clearly a step above because of this taxation. The capital was recently moved to a newly constructed city, complete with a replica of the country's most famous pagoda. At some point on this trip, I was likely followed, but I didnt' sense it. Many locals reflected a similar mantra, 'Burmese people good, Burmese government very bad,' the second half always in a whisper. On several occasions when I disclosed my nationality I was asked the prospects of an American invasion. None I said. If we were in the business of toppling corrupt governments there would be no end to our work, and would have to turn our eyes on some of our own. Incidentally, am I glad I missed the whole health care debate!
As I traveled around the country, and saw the local economic conditions, it's hard not to make comparisons. Is the poverty here worse than it's neighbors? Are Burmese worse off than those in rural China, the Delta region of Vietnam or the NE Thai region of Isan from where I'm currently writing? I doubt it, if so, then not by much. Burma like the rest of the region has a serious urban/rural divide. Is their government worse than it's neighbors? For sure, but it's not like the region is bustling with success stories. Just look at the most 'stable' country in SE Asian, Thailand, which is in the midst of some major demonstrations to bring back the former PM who happened to be deposed several years ago in a coup and was recently convicted of defrauding and embezzling several billion dollars from his country.
It's hard not to feel sorry for the people here, maybe a tad more than elsewhere I've been. The main way to improve your stock here is to sell out your people and work for the government. At least in other countries there's some hope of pulling yourself out of poverty. If that doesn't work, you can go with the every popular failsafe of marrying a white guy.
It's the People
I thought there were only several sites here of much interest. The Schwedegon Pagoda in Rangoon is spectacular and the ancient temples of Bagan are interesting, although nothing compared to the magnificence of the Angkor ones, but the real fun comes from the kind and inviting nature of the Burmese. For a people that have so little, they are extremely generous. Everywhere I went I was met with big smiles, shouts of hello and hospitable invitations.
The food and the people felt like a combination between India and China. I alternated between Indian curries and Chinese dishes, both of which were yummy. The people had a very unique, traditional style. Both men and women wore traditional sarongs called longyi. Women and children would also wear a face cream called thanaka made from the bark of local trees. This cream is a natural sun block, thought to be a skin moisturizer and is also applied in attractive designs (see my pictures for examples). The men, while wearing the longyi(think dress), would constantly be chewing betel nut. The result was a red staining of teeth and gums and the everpresense of little pools of red spittle, not so pleasant.
It's hard to exactly translate what was so enjoyable about traveling here. I think I can reduce it to the fact that people were extremely friendly and welcoming, excited to meet and greet foreigners and wanting to share their country and experiences with us. In some cases this was shared with families over food, watching soccer games or WWF wrestling at local tea shops, making faces at children or playing a game of Burmese hacky-sack. Everyone was constantly smiling, and quick to laugh. Who wouldnt' want to go to places where you feel honored and adored? In summary, see Rambo 4, it's laughable and go to Burma, the people will make you laugh, either way it's smiles all around.
I'm trying to continue my positive rural experience here in Thailand. After a couple of days, I've moved quickly to the drier, poorer, more celebratory Isan region. The traditional Songkran Water Festival begins on the thirteenth. Hopefully my training in shaving cream warfare will have properly prepared me for water battle. Over the next couple of days, I'll try to be filling in some stories from the past three months, in between having water fights and flirting with local women. Should the updates not come, I'll leave it up to you to decide which of the two is preventing. I've posted some pictures of my trip to give you a glimpse of my experience http://picasaweb.google.com/avinagel/Burma#
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