I've now joined the ranks of my fellow Bay Area techies by deciding to create a blog! What is this world coming to? Believe me, I've resisted in order to keep my soul intact, but I couldn't think of a better way to share my travel tales and photos of my recent trip to Thailand. This blog will feature tales of travel, food, art and culture -- the things in life that nourish my soul (and keep me sane!).
Prior to leaving for Thailand, I had just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you share my love of travel and haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. I hope you will be as moved as I was reading her book. Having been to Italy and loving all things Italian (as many of you know), I felt like the country shaped like a boot was my pleasure trip just as Elizabeth's Italy journey was for her also. In my spiritual quest to be more zen-like these days, I expected Thailand to be more of a devotion trip by visiting a few of the country's 30,000+ wats (temples). To my surprise, my two-week journey turned out to be a perfect balance of devotion and pleasure.
Thailand is a wonderful country with beautiful, kind, respectful people. The wats are truly magnificent and breathtaking. The local markets and opportunities to quickly deplete your bank account are plentiful. King Bhumibol will send you a personal thank you for contributing to the local economy and putting his grandchildren through college. The abundance of fresh tropical fruit in sultry 90+ degree weather was refreshing. The inexpensive Thai massages were soothing and gratifying after long days of sightseeing and shopping. Believe me, I ended up getting three of them by the end of my vacation, and I had only promised myself at least one (this is where the pleasure part of my trip comes in). The food, well honestly, was a little disappointing for the most part. I expected to be dazzled by spicy culinary pleasures, but most of the Thai food I ate wasn't very spicy at all and was more or less mediocre. I had about three memorable meals where the food was better than usual. To be honest, the best Thai food I've had is right here in my backyard (well, at least throughout California).
Needless to say, my trip was memorable. It was everything I hoped for and more...
I have posted only a small fraction of my photos. It wasn't until I returned home that I realized I had ended up with over 700 snapshots! The photo above is my favorite one of all, taken at Wat Rong Khun (known as the White Temple) in Chiang Rai. The three monks just happened to wander in front of my view as I was about to snap the photo. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect photo op. What? Was that National Geographic calling my name? I hope you enjoy them all...
