flooding and other updates

Thanks for all your emails and messages regarding the flooding. Luckily we haven’t experienced any flooding here in Mae Hong Son town. However, one camp that our staff works in farther south in the province has been quite affected and many people have lost their homes and bridges and roads are basically destroyed. Our staff won’t be able to travel there until the situation changes which they think might be some time in December. Also one of my co-worker’s parents live in the camp and their house has been washed away. So although there is no flooding here, people have still been affected. As well, Thailand and basically all of Southeast Asia is in an emergency situation with the flooding and I am not sure it is going to end anytime soon.

Also, shockingly, a staff from one of our other offices (located in Mae Sot), went to visit her husband’s family in Burma last weekend. Apparently they were in what is considered a “black area” meaning an area that has experienced a lot of fighting and has not been cleared of landmines. While they were driving back they hit a landmine on the road that exploded. The driver was instantly killed and the staff member was thrown from the truck. She is currently in hospital and is paralyzed from the waist down. That really brought home for me the danger that people face in Burma and the reality of the refugee situation. Sometimes it seems to be downplayed here in Thailand, which I think in part can be attributed to the protracted conflict in Burma. But, there continue to be daily instances of fighting and human rights abuses. The latest has been in the Kachin state, which borders China (unfortunately China does not allow Burmese refugees to cross its border and stay), where the previously agreed upon ceasefire has ended. My co-worker’s in-laws have an orange farm in Kachin state but a couple of weeks ago, the fighting between Kachin Independence Army and the Burmese Army came to their village and the people had to run into the jungle to hide for two days. The people were scared but were also worried about losing their orange crops and livelihood so slowly made their way back, even though it was extremely dangerous. Many of their oranges had been stolen by the soldiers. There are so many stories like this in just my small office.

My organization is collecting donations for both the flooding and the staff in the landmine accident. If you are interested in donating, just let me know and I can contribute for you.

Woo Gin in the Jungle

Our elephant ride. Look at James the professional mahout. And a bamboo snack for Woo Gin at the end. Plus the fancy photo taken without our consent while riding the elephant - we were then chased down on our motorcycle on the highway after the ride to buy the print - James is a softy and couldn't resist. Pretty sweet!

Hot Drinks Hot Food

Sticky rice with mango, iced coffee, Chinese tea, King prawns and spicy soup (notice the beads of sweat on James' face - the direct result of combining an al fresco dinner in 100% humidity with an incredible number of chilies served in the food). Other dining favorites included Koi Soi (curried egg noodles), Som Tam (green papaya salad), Mu Ping (pork satay) and coconut soups.

The Temples

I have to post temple shots, I can't help myself. This is my first real life experience visiting a reclining Buddha ... I was pretty excited!

The happenings of J

James is very tired the first night he arrives.
James enjoys Chang Beer by the pool.
James drives our motorcycle on twisty turning mountain roads.
James tries to drain the river water from the motorcycle (notice the elephant poop on the road - wow!)
James loves his wife.

The Big Turmanski Visit

James and I just spent a wonderful week together in Northern Thailand. Our visit started in Chiang Mai where we dined on Thai delicacies, visited Buddhist Temples, got beaten up and twisted into pretzel knots by Thai masseurs and shopped till we dropped. We then headed up to Mae Hong Son via an extremely picturesque flight through clouds and over lush green mountain tops. In Mae Hong Son we rented a motorcycle and took in the sites of the town and the valley around. We took a day trip to Ban Pak Tai (or Loving Thai Village) which is a Chinese KMT outpost on the Burma border at the top of a steep mountain road. The road trip was beautiful and the town is a pretty peaceful place set around a lake with shops selling tea, mushrooms and pig statues with exposed genitalia. We also visited the next town over Ban Ruam Thai which is a small village that has recently turned their opium fields into coffee fields. We met Uncle Pala who served us up a strong cup of coffee in his beautiful garden and sold us some beans to go.

We took another road trip out of town which involved at least 7 river crossings. Unfortunately we got a bit too deep and our motorcycle flooded with water. Luckily it happened right at an elephant riding outpost in a small Karen village. So, we decided to just let our motorcycle dry out and ride an elephant in the jungle. Our elephant was Woo Gin and she is 49 years old. What a beautiful, majestic and slow moving creature! Amazing!

We also did a lot of eating, relaxing and hanging out by the pool. It was a vacation!

This morning, James' last, we were planning to have a relaxing breakfast, foot massage, and swim in the pool before we returned our motorbike ... unfortunately when we walked out of our room - the motorbike was missing! So, our morning turned into a trip to the police station with the owners of our guesthouse and the owner of the motorbike. Luckily the bike was found, with only the ignition damaged and we only had to pay $10 bucks to have it fixed. If the bike had been gone, we would have had to pay for it! Everyone keeps telling us that this is very very rare in Mae Hong Son and in 10 years of renting motorbikes the rental lady said she has never ever had a bike stolen. Plus I live in a quiet secure compound?! My first trip to Thailand my passport was stolen and this trip my motorbike is stolen ... I think I must have been a terrible thief here in Thailand in my last life and karma is coming back to haunt me! Anyway, luckily it turned out well.

I am adding a bunch of photos. These are a few of the sights ... the ping river in Chiang Mai, the lake and a house in Ban Rak Thai, the coffee roasting in Ban Ruam Thai and a rice paddy in Mae Hong Son.

Thanks Jimmy for the visit! I am so happy I was able to share a bit of my life here in Thailand with you! Thanks for taking those ridiculously long flights to come see me! I miss you already and love you lots! xo

killer snakes and popped tires

What a crazy afternoon! My neighbour "Linda", who is also my friend but she can't speak English and I can't speak Thai which makes communication difficult, set out on a motorcycle adventure this afternoon. First we drove around town looking for some tiles that I wanted to buy - but without being able to communicate, it wasn't very successful. Then we headed out of town - my first trip out on a motorcycle and in a direction I haven't yet been. Wow - it is beautiful just heading out on the highway with the jungle all around. On our way back in, all was great until we blew a tire. We had to push the bike down the highway - everyone was having a pretty good stare at the white girl in a dress pushing a motorbike down the highway. All of a sudden Linda let out a little yell and started pushing the bike into the middle of the road to avoid something on the side - turns out it was an extremely poisonous pit viper!! Thank god it had been run over and was dead. But I was left worrying what was hiding in the trees as we pushed that bike down the highway! Then out of know where, one of the staff from my organization pulled up and said he recognized me pushing the bike (not difficult). So he went into town to get a tire, changed us up and we were on our way again! Thank god this is a small town! I have been really disliking the lizard up until now but now I realize I have got bigger problems lurking in the trees! (I stole this photo from the internet)