The food markets of Bangkok drew my attention first. I had been hearing so much about durians from my durian addicted friends in Hawaii, but I had yet to see, or more importantly, smell one in person. You smell them (imagine some rotting flesh aroma) before you see them and then you either love them or hate them. Those who love them say it takes a few times (getting past the smell) to get the full effect of the MAO inhibitors etc, then you too could be glassy eyed and folllowing the durian season across the middle of Asia. Here the king and queen (mangosteens) of fruits are nestled together. So far, I pick the queen but I am getting used to the smell . . . .
The fish can be so fresh that one can jump out of its basket and flop-follow you around like one did to me my first morning in Bangkok. But once the cooks get hold of them, they are all fried in 5 day old recycled cottonseed oil. I am sticking to the pumpkins and other vegies.
The northern Hilltribe peoples are slowly being integrated into the mainstream. Roads are being built to their communities and motor bikes have arrived thru the baht earned from us visiting tourists. The Thai government has schools in the village up to grade 3, then the kids must go to a nearby town. To go to school in town, the families must split the cost with the government.
*Since Capitalism=Consumerisn=Christmas, I have not succeeded in escaping the Christmas Spasm (carols, trees, santas everywhere) by being in a Buddhist country. Maybe next year, I will try a Muslim country.
Since Laos has been the site of either occupation or war* for most of the 20th century, the Plain of Jars remains an unexplored mystery from antiquity (2000 BC). So far, at least 14 sites have been located and only 3 are open to the public. There are 3 leading theories for their existence - jars for the remains of the dead, jars for storage of either water or rice wine or jars for offerings for the dead who are buried underneath and beside the jars. Since the jars discovered so far have all been found opened, the contents cannot be known. The prevailing theory is the last one, since recently skeleton remains were found near the jars. The Plain is on a confluence of ancient trade routes and the jars suggest that the area was heavily poplulated during the Iron Age. The plain is highly magnetized and since it attracts lightening, the ancients may have deduced that the site was auspicious for reaching the sky.
*War - During the time the US government conducted its Secret/Unclassified War in Laos (1964 to February 1973), the Ravens (CIA operatives) flew almost 600,000 sorties (177 a day), dropping over 2,000,000 tons of bombs. Laos, due to its perceived strategic position in Southeast Asia , has been the most heavily bombed country in the history of warfare. Over 50% of the jars were broken by the bombing. But the Plain took its victims as well. The magnetism caused instrumentation to fail and many planes lie buried at the site.
I will miss the adrenaline rush of Asian food markets as I try to figure out what things are - "is that really pickled, dead baby pigs?" I won't miss food looking like its live incarnation.
I will miss the pleasure when i risk tomorrow's health on strange food item and am only rewarded with gustatory glee.
I will really miss fresh coconuts - geen with a straw, creamed with cacao, oil for my skin and hair.
I will not miss the sound, smell and feel of so many vehicles competing with me for pavement since the sidewalks are full of vendors. I will not miss reversed traffic flow which resulted in me performing many jerking jumpbacks and with gratitude - successfully.
I will miss watching the resourcefulness of these people as they cantilever and pile their bicycles, motobikes, tuk-tuks with livestock, firewood, computers, sugarcane and here - the whole family. That is the baby under the blanket.
And finally, I will miss being in worlds with such vibrant reminders of spiritual practice and devotion.
