Monkeys, Elephants, Festivals, oh my!

Loy Krathong Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hard to believe the 22nd of November is already upon us. In just 3 days, Melissa's fairy tale vacation comes to an end. : ( I use the term "fairy tale" lightly though as we both suffered from some sort of food poisoning about a week ago. It hit Melissa in the morning, half-way through her trip, and all I could think was "what luck" - especially since the only problem I've had my entire time travelling is an ear infection. However, what goes around comes around, and by the middle of the night that same day, the sickness came for me as well. Ironically enough, the next day marked my half-way mark (6 month anniversary) of travelling. Figures.


Last time we wrote, we were in the city of Ayuthaya. Today, we find ourselves in Chiang Mai, a city much further north. I find it a bit difficult to select some of the highlights between then and now, but I suppose I will choose a couple of my favorites and then Melissa will probably do the same.

Monkeys in Lopburi, Thailand

Lopburi: This city, best known for having monkeys inhabiting part of the city, provided 2 days of entertainment for us. Although we probably didn't need to spend this much time there, exploring places with a comfortable window of time makes everything seem less hurried and less stressful. The monkeys largely occupied only one of the temples in town and perhaps a block radius around it. Like a plague of locusts, they absolutely inundated the sidewalks, streets, telephone wires, and awnings overhanging the shops. Quite the sight to behold, when Melissa and I had to walk by, the word "gauntlet" repeated endlessly inside my head. They stared and walked beside us, looking as if they were ready to attack or jump on us at any moment. One evening, we went a fair distance away from our accommodation for dinner. The return journey would have required passage through the monkey's turf at night, not something I looked forward to at all. Luckily for us, we made some friends at dinner that night, and they ended up giving us a ride back to our place.

While no monkeys did anything to us while walking around the city, Melissa did manage to have one jump on her while inside the actual temple area (aka, their inner sanctuary). She tried posing next to one for a photo and the next thing you knew, one of them jumped on her purse. Naturally, she freaked out and the monkey immediately jumped back off. The only misfortune? My inability to capture the moment on my camera. : )

Elephant riding in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai: Before coming here, we toured the city of Sukhothai (another city with a million and one temples and ruins). It took us a bit longer to get here than we intended as our encounter with Dr. Sicko (just for you Byron) kept us grounded for a couple extra days. We had no intention of attempting to take a 5.5 hour bus ride in our current conditions at the time. We arrived here on the 19th. Since that time, we have gone riding on elephants, seen more temples, gotten our health back (for the most part), and biggest of all, experienced the amazing festival called "Loy Krathong." For the 11th full moon of the lunar calendar, they have a special "full moon" festival where they also celebrate the mother/goddess of the river and/or water. To celebrate, most places throughout Thailand make little boats out of Banana leaves and flowers and float them down a river with a candle and stick of burning incense. Chiang Mai does this, but they also do something unique to the rest of Thailand. They light paper-balloon like lanterns and send them off into the night sky to cast off evil spirits that the individual may have accumulated over the year. Aside from parades, fireworks, beauty contests, and just pure craziness, the balloons were by far my favorite part of the festival. Seeing the night sky dotted with hundreds of lit-lanterns is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

----------(Melissa now)---------

What to add? Jeff has done a good job of summing up our recent events. I guess I can tell you a little about Sukhothai and the Wats we saw there. We actually rented a bike for $1 for the day. The bikes were one speed fits all, and we toured the old city and ruins. We saw so many ruins, I can't even tell you the names of all of them right now. Our hostel had free bicycles for us to use. One night, Jeff and I set out for dinner, but they only had one bike left. Never fear, there was a bench-like seat on the bike, so Jeff got to do all the work, and I just held on. That was pretty fun, at least for me. :)

In Sukhothai, Thailand.  Somehow managed
to avoid getting hit.

Time for my version of the Loy Krathong festival. Although everything Jeff said is true, I just want to add in a few more things. From probably 7pm to past 11:30pm there was never a dull moment in the sky. Between the lanterns and fireworks, there was a constant and consistent party in the sky. It was beautiful! I think one reason this festival is so fun is it's not just about the tourists. It is a huge party for the people here, and thankfully, they are so happy to include the tourists. They want you to be a part in their celebration and it is a uniting feeling. The atmosphere that is created as I waited for my own, personal, balloon to fill up with enough hot air to rise was like a kid anticipating Christmas. With every balloon that is sent up, there are fireworks going off, and people cheering. It is a type of celebration in which I've never seen, and my words are a pitiful description of how magnificent it truly was.

One other thing I will comment about, and then I'll beg for pictures (but no video this time). One of the temples in Chiang Mai had a shaded garden connected to it. In the garden were little wooden street-like signs hung on the trees. The signs had quotes on them in Thai and English. Jeff and I wandered around this garden, escaping the heat for a bit and reading all these quotes. The only sound that I could hear were the monks chanting in the temple that we were at. It was such a calming experience and nice change from the bussle of the city.

I look forward to my return to the States for many reasons. To sleep in my own bed, to flush a toilet with a handle instead of dumping a bucket of water into the toilet, to brush my teeth with tap water, to not be sweating while I sleep, and I'm sure the list could go on. However, I will miss everything here, and I'm sad to leave. I will miss travelling and bonding with my brother, the tuk tuk drivers always wanting to give you a ride, the people welcoming you as family, the warmth of the sun at the end of November, the genuine excitement in the people about their festivals, the custom of taking off your shoes before going into stores and everywhere, the relaxation of having no plan...and THIS list could go on for even longer than the last. Most of all, I will miss the land of "smiling people," with hearts two sizes their hands.
 
---------------------------------------------------(Back to Jeff)-------------------------------------
 
I nearly forgot to post November's Speedo Picture!  A bit dated now, however it's still in front of a fairly iconic place in Singapore.  Ignore the man that got in the way.  I wasn't about to wait for him to get out of the way because I didn't know if I'd get in any trouble for wearing a Speedo in public in Singapore.  Better safe than sorry.

Happy November, and early Thanksgiving!