Oh Nepal...

Oh Kathmandu- you are such a holy place with so many Shrines, Deities, Temples, and Religions. You are so beautiful with your copious amounts of colors-your street flowers, women's Saris, Tibetan Prayer flags, Stupas, Blue and Green painted doorways, and offerings smeared and left behind wherever it is pleased to leave them. You are home to so many different Nepali Tribes and leave room to welcome Tibetans to live and foreigners to visit. You are a gateway trekking getaway and have so much to offer for those who seek.

Oh Kathmandu- you are so very noisy. Cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles; they all honk too much. Everyone clears their throats to spit. Dogs have so much to say and speak amongst yourselves night and day. The chickens cluck, the silver smiths clunk, and the streets are lined with Junk. And oh the garbage- it is everywhere and the smell of the city at times is that of diarrhea and stale urine. Everything seems, smells, and feels so dirty. 

Oh Kathmandu- your have so much great food to taste, but I am weary. The water and vegetables are hard to trust. I make sure not to visit the stenchy hole in the ground, I mean the toilet, before I eat because it will only scare me away from the establishment. Your Masala/Chai teas are those that please which good because the coffee here is a tease.

Oh Kathmandu- I have had so much time to rest, reflect, be alone, and be mindful, yet why do I feel so exhausted? I was looking forward to being alone, but instead I just feel lonely. My face feels flushed and my eyes feel heavy. I want to go home, I'm feeling ready. I want to walk somewhere and pause when and where I choose, without someone insisting I buy, look at, or feel a product. I enjoy to walk and don't always need your taxi. "Madam, madam, do you like this?" says the man playing a squawky high pitched child's toy string instrument. "No, no actually I do not. the sound hurts my ears and I would like it if you stopped following me." Oh how I miss making eye contact and exchanging a friendly smile without it being an invitation or anything more than what it is. I feel shut off to people. I feel as though I can not welcome those fun and random occurrences of meeting people because I fear to open up and trust anyone. This is so sad in a country that has many English speakers.

Oh Kathmandu- if only I could find some green saving grace that I can find peace in without worry of stray dogs or monkeys, or sitting in someones piss, shit, or spit.

Oh Kathmandu- It was so great to finally see the real you! A Nepali so Kind, with eyes to trust and a sense of hospitality to brag about. I needed to very much to see and be in /around your green mountains. I needed so very much to be able to make eye contact and share a sense of being human, to make an everlasting impression of a good person from this valley. My intuition was right to guide me to coffee, to speak with someone, to be open to an adventurous opportunity. I love the traveling world and how it takes care of me. I love that after I write about how I need a random occurrence, not even two minutes later, life presents one before me. 

        

Farewell to Thailand and its fine foods

Oh Thailand-  how sad it is to leave. To say goodbye to new friends, familiar faces of locals I have interacted with, sights both seen and unseen, and oh, how I will miss your culinary cuisine! In this final entry about Thailand I will brag of other amazing foods that I have eaten and have not yet mentioned. Due to my excessive eating habits, not all meals will be recognized, but know that each taste was savoured with joy and will forever be remembered in my heart and my taste memory.

Breakfast- a great place to begin.

In my last week I found my favorite way to start my day. I found a cute cafe that served relatively good iced cappacinos and an amazingly simple meal. This was my take on the dish and how I will attempt to recreate it:
An omlete of just an egg fried hard and fast without much scrambling of the egg so that some areas are of soft yolk, but fried hard enough so there is a bit of a crispy outside. It is then cut up and placed on a plate with a raw vegetable salad that has soaked in the juice of lime, tomato, and garlic. The shredded veg consists of carrots, celery (with the leaves), Italian parsley, white onion, and fresh chili pepers.

There are some fruits with a wide variety of uses, and luckily, one which is easily accessible when I return home-Bananas! Most of the bananas consumed in Thailand are baby bananas or "sweet" bananas. They can be found deep fried in batter and dipped in honey or palm sugar, cooked on the street in a Roti, cooked in coconut milk, turned into bread, as well as wrapped in sticky rice and then steamed in a banana leaf.

I also enjoyed this "banana roll" off the street at the Sunday Night Market- a banana wrapped as a spring roll, deep fried, and sold for the equivalant of about $0.33.

Switching tastes up a bit. There were several other authentic Asian restaurants around for me to enjoy. When at school, I ate Vietnamese dish Pho almost daily, was thrilled to eat Indian food in its several course glory, and when I saw a special Japanese dish-Okonamiyaki offered on the street, I had to have it! Okonamiyaki is like the lovechild of a pancake and omelete, a meal of many layers and cooked on a flat skillet. The first layer is batter, followed by lots of shredded cabbage, ramen style noodles, meat or seafood of some sort, a fried egg, then topped with a

salty sauce, mayonnaise, and green onion. Beleive it or not, but this is edible with chopsticks! If you don't beleive me, ask Deniz who witnessed in astonishment with her fork in hand.

 

 For the 5 weeks I was in Thailand, I was obsessed with eating noodle dishes! I loved wide noodle dishes similar to those I can find in the states- Drunken noodles, Pad See Ew, and Phat si-io, and others. I also however enjoyed my noodle dishes in other fashions. As my friend Karen who I visited in the Ukraine (look forward to reading about that soon) can atest, this dish is relatively easy to prepare. I attempted with a packet of ramen noodles, added vegetables, an attempt at a poached egg (Thank zou Karen) and curry paste to the broth.


And for the fianl courses-
I found a recomendation online to eat at a place called the "Funky Dog Cafe." True to the views of others, the food was delicious, the ambience unique, and the owner/Chef/artist was a rather inspiring fellow. He shared some beautiful words with me and 2 even lovlier meals, one being the yellow currry, the other a "mystical" tomato curry. I will attempt to make the tomato curry by adding sun dried tomatoes and cashews to my curry

paste. I (and Deniz who awaits my success) can only hope that my taste memory is strong enough to match the beauty and perfection that this tomato curry left dancing on our pallets.

Thailand, I miss you already. I thank you for all the opportunities you presented to me. I can not wait to bring my memories of you into my kitchen and massage practice, and to share you with my friends, family, and clients.

                           ~Sawasdee~

Thailand Temples and time to spare

I was in Thailand for 5 weeks yet only had 3 full weeks of class, and 1 week of half day classes, so I had time to spare for adventures. Most of my adventures took place with my new friend from Belgium, Deniz. Together we explored Chiang Mai's central temple, Wat Chedi Luang and all of its colorful offerings. We had excellent timing and were there to listen to the Moncks chanting, and I fell in love with an enormous tree wrapped in colorful ribbons held in place with walking sticks.

Our second main temple adventure was to the very famous temple, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, situated at the top of Doi Suthep Mountain only about 15 Kilometers north of Chiang Mai. Myself, Deniz, and a few friends took a Songtaew (red truck taxi) up the steep, twisting and turning, stomach churning, 2 lane road to the temple. The most impressive part about this journey was the amount of cyclists that made the steep feat up the mountain, and the risky, steep, fast paced ride back down.
After arriving half way up the mountain and to the bottom of the temple, I had to catch my breath from the drive before ascending the 209 stairs to the temple. As Deniz and I walked around to collect snacks, we saw some other friends from school and were soon convinced to jump back into a Songtaew to drive another 30 minutes up the mountain to get a glimpse of village life. The Doi Pui village was beautiful! Though Chiang Mai is not grotesquely polluted, it was amazing to be surrounded by so much green and wildlife! Deniz and I took the low path and found a great waterfall to pose in front of, then joined up with our friends to enjoy some gardens, views, and

     
to make fun of the other tourists that rent local traditional clothes and wear them while posing for photos.

We then headed back down the mountain a bit as we were hungry and ready to check out the Temple. We ate a typical Northern dish, Kao Soi,

and then headed up the many steps lined by the Dragon rails. The Temple itself, like most of Thai Wats (temples), was overwhelming with sights, smells of candle wax and insence, sounds, and Buddha relics.



Asami, Megumi, and Yoko

 I felt very fortunate to have viewed these amazing historical and religiously important sites with my new friends.

On a seperate occasion, Deniz had a brillaint idea to see more places, faster, and cheaper- Rent bikes!!! This was a huge success. In addition to finding Chiang Mai's China town, crossing the river and venturing into the permanent night bazaar, we also road our bikes about 15 Kilometers from where we lived to relax by lake Huay Tung Thao.

Deniz and I were happy to find we went the right way!

This lake was stunningly calm, bathtub warm, and home to who knows what creatures. When we saw locals jump in (with their clothes on), we followed suit (but in our bathing suites), and we were relieved to be out of the direct sunlight and to enjoy some shade and food under our own lakeside bungalo hut. 

 

Just when the day couldn't get any better, a large group of university students invited us to swim with them. They were excited to practice their English skills and thought it was hilarious that we had ridden our bikes. We decided to call it a day once we dissapointed our new friends in not knowing words to the few American songs that they knew and were singing.                          

My last big adventure, in Chiang Mai and with Deniz, was also spent on a journey in a Songtaew, this time on an hour journey outside the city to enjoy the natural hot springs of     and in the accompany of other friends Mel and Ruth. We noticed the egg theme upon arrival, but it was not until we saw the geiser and small hot pool with pegs to hold baskets of eggs that we understood what to do: Buy a basket of eggs, place it in the naturally boiling water, and then anywhere from 7-15 min later, enjoy a soft-hard boiled egg!! This turned into a very tasty adventure, followed by a medicinal soak in the pools. 

                                   



                                     



Two days of Trekking

I spent my last week in Chiang Mai doing various activities. I was finished with my classes, but continued to practice at school on most days. However, there were two days that I exchanged for an outdoor adventure!
I met a very kind German traveler called Tobias who had only arrived that day, yet I had already seen him twice that day around the city. When we finally met, he spoke of his desire to go on a Trek and I was reminded that I too wanted to walk through the mountains when I first arrived. I saw all these factors as a sign and two days later we and 6 others were walking through some gorgeous mountains 2 hours outside the city.

I soon realized I had made a wise decision to do a 2 day hike rather than the 3 day hike as it was nearly all upwards walking/climbing and I am not in the best shape. Rain meant relief- mosquitoes backed off, it was refreshingly hydrating, and best of all, no one was able to tell just how sweaty I actually was!

Supot, Jivan, myself

The scenic view was amazing! When we were deep in the jungle I was surprised to see mainly bamboo with few trees and to hear the high pitched screams of the cicadas. The tree coverage was so dense at some points that we could hear it raining, yet felt no raindrops.

 

When we trekked high enough to come to a clearing, we were able to see hundreds of miles past the clouds unto distant mountain peaks. 

 We walked past papaya trees, corn, rice, and pineapple field, always continuing up (and sometimes falling down) the wet, muddy rocky pathway.

Jivan at a papaya tree

Our trekking guide Supot set a very nice walking pace and made sure we stopped frequently enough to catch our breath and drink some water. He never looked tired or sweaty. While I tried to not have a heart attack, Supot casually cut some bamboo stalks to make us some spoons to eat our dinner with, and taught us how to entertain ourselves by using plants to blow bubbles.

Supot also took us to a Bat Cave before we arrived to the village we would stay at for the evening. We were not the only guests of the village though. As it turns out, a Korean Christian missionary was also there, and we were "blessed" by their Singing, praising, and "Hallelujahs" from around 4pm-10pm!!

For dinner we ate green curry and a pumpkin/egg/curry stir fry mix with rice. It hit the spot and I was ready for bed! We all slept in the same room, each with our own mattress and mosquito net. I hardly slept, the pigs, chickens, and the sound of others snoring kept me awake all night long.

The following morning we continued on, uphill, until about 2 hours later when we reached a waterfall. We swam, we ate, and we enjoyed a bit of a rest before continuing onwards. The others all stayed on for another night and day, but I needed to return to the city to continue practicing.
Supot had to take me to a separate meeting place and so down we walked, back to the bottom of the mountain!

All the Small Things

Anyone who knows me well enough has probably come to the understanding that I really appreciate the little things in life. The little things are usually what stand out in my mind, add up over time, and eventually make the largest impressions on me.

I have had fun in Chiang Mai, a city that is clearly very different from my home and usual way of life. For example, the most popular means of transportation here is probably a motor bike of some sort. Having traveled around other parts ofAsia, it is not a big surprise to see entire families of 4 (in this case 5)
or groups of 3-4 friends riding on one bike together. This got me thinking, it is one more incentive for Asians to stay so thin! I'm just not sure that (if laws allowed it) 3-4 Americans could ever fit on one motor bike at the same time.

Another thing I have found amusing is that when you are eating at a restaurant, they never supply you with napkins. Instead there will be a dispenser or box of tissues. But the fun does not stop there. To avoid the site of an appalling box of tissues, many places dress the boxes up.  Here are some of my favorites! 


Though I have a fond respect for other cultures traditions and religions, I was also amused with some of the businesses prayer houses/spirit houses. These are small birdhouse like dwellings that usually resemble temples and are placed at the front of homes and businesses. Offerings are placed daily/weekly and are usually a food, beverage, or incense, and often represent something that the business sells to ensure it prosperous luck. And often you can tell what the business is from the offering rather than its name! I saw a full wine glass outside a pub, and this photo shows a rather sugary offering of red soda and rotisserie chicken! 

There are so many stray dogs around the city that are rather lethargic and nonthreatening and then there are dogs owned by people. People and their dogs are a funny thing. I think this photo speaks for itself. 

In Thailand it is polite (or honorific) for a woman to say "Kah" and a man to say "Krap" after their sentences. For example, everytime I say "hello" which is "Sawasdee," I would actually say, "Sawasdee kah." I enjoyed how this extra polite word was even carried over into English sentances. For example, I may ask my teacher if I was doing a position correctly and they may respond, " yes, it is ok kah." And best of all, every time a Thai person teaches you the difference between the two, they always word it like this, "If you a woman, you say 'Kah', and if you a man, you say 'krap.' If you a man and you say 'Kah' then you a lady boy [chuckle, chuckle, chuckle]."

Which leads me to my final small thing about Thailand that I will mention in this blog. I have learned from many friends who are foreigners that to make and understand a joke can be very difficult in another language. Yet, for some reason, the Thai people have mastered making little jokes in English. These people are so warm, heartfelt, and love to avoid confrontation so much that everything in life easily becomes fun. When you make it to Thailand and you happen to trip and fall while walking, do not be too offended when you see a Thai person laugh at you before helping you up!