Thailand to India

We have been in a very tiring rally in India for the past 2 days - and without any access to the internet. I will write up our India adventures (which are AMAZING) as soon as this leg ends tomorrow night but here is info on our second day in Thailand (which now feels like a year ago because we have done so much since then).

Thailand - Day 2 - In a nutshell: "WOW, WOW, WOW"

Bill, the producer of this competition, always talks about trying to give us “wow” moments but I was definitely NOT seeing the wow-factor of Thailand yesterday. Then today came. I had slept well, was no longer heat stroked, felt great and – best of all - our travel karma got righted and things started to work. Today we did not miss every bus, train or Tuk Tuk or get to every site right after it was closed. Today – was a WOW.

We ended up doing tons of different things: but here are some highlights:

Scavenge: Pay an early morning visit (and give tribute) to the folks at the Marble Wat.
We woke up early to see the sunrise over a specific temple by the river so we arrived at the Marble Wat (Temple) about 6:30AM to try and figure out what this scavenge meant. When we arrived, it was immediately clear: this is a temple where every morning scores of Buddhist monks arrive– carrying gourd-shaped begging bowls – for the town to pay honor them by giving them food. Whatever people put into their bowls, is the monks’ food for the day. We bought some cooked dim-sum-like steamed dumplings from a street vendor and gave them as offerings to the monks. One monk stood out above the crowd: he was quite tall and clearly English. So we stopped him and talked for a while. He came to visit Thailand 23 years ago, got the Buddhist bug, became a monk and has never left. We had to figure out some scavenge clues that dealt with Buddhism - and the basic tenets of that religion – and he helped us out.

Scavenge: Employ those plying their trade at the back of Wat Po after passing through Marco Polo Gate.
We got to Wat Po about 7:30 AM to find that the temple (with its amazing reclining gold Buddha) does not open until 8 AM. So we started wandering around trying to find what happens at the back of the temple. In the temple complex is a series of low-roofed buildings which turned out to be the dormitory styled homes of the monks. A monk came out, saw that we were very lost and invited us into his home (that he shares with 8 other monks). He sat us down on the floor of his living room and served us breakfast (biscuits and sweet fig-like bananas) with water and tea while he chatted away (in very poor English) about visiting San Francisco once in the 1980s. As soon as 8 AM came, he blessed us and sent us on our way to visit the Buddha and to find that past the Marco Polo gate is a school that teaches Thai massage and the students have a training program where they give massages at a reduced rate to temple visitors. So Rainey and I spent half an hour getting stretched and rubbed and manipulated (a Thai massage is a stretching, kneading massage done with all of your clothes on – and without any oils). After the Ayutthaya Tuk Tuk experience yesterday, this was fantastic. I really wanted an hour long massage – but there were points to be made… so time cannot be wasted.

After the massage, we went to see the actual reclining Buddha – Although it was all impressive, I really liked his toes….

Scavenge #2: Bridge over River Kwai
One of the bonus scavenges was to go out to Kanchanaburi (west of Bangkok) and see the Death Railway (including the bridge over the River Kwai) that was built by English and Allied POWs during WWII. Like in the movie, the bridge was blown up by the British to stop the Japanese from easily being able to transport weapons and bombs down the railway – but it was quickly rebuilt. We also visited the War Museum which showed how terribly the POWs were treated.

Scavenge # 3- AND AN A++++++ WOW EVENT: Tiger Temple
In the middle of nowhere, 2 ½ hours from Bangkok is a Buddhist monastery that started taking in orphaned tiger cubs. Fast forward a decade and they have 19 pet tigers that you can come and visit, pet and play with…. And yes, I said TIGERS… not pussycats. So there we were: walking among the tigers, petting them, hanging out with them. The superstition is that the monks’ peaceful nature and unconditional love has worked “monk magic” on these wild animals (who have very large, sharp teeth and even sharper claws). I was convinced that the magic was going to wear off at the exact moment that I walked up and that one of these Kings of the Jungle was going to just munch off my arm. But instead (once you remembered to breath and forgot how terrifying it was), it was an amazing experience. Then Ben and I went into a caged area and got to play with 4 tiger cubs. I would call them baby tigers – but they were as big as my knee, strong and very playful. As we walked up they were biting the heck out of each other… and growling… and ripping apart a rope toy (leaving no doubt that they could also easily take off my foot). If Ben had not wanted to do it so badly, I would definitely have chickened out – but I did not want to disappoint him – so in we went. I was putting on the brave face until – right as we entered – the tiger trainer said “remember, never turn your back on a tiger, that makes it want to pounce on your back” – words which kept my butt firmly stuck to a wall at all times just so no tiger would have a chance to snack on my neck. Ben and I even got to feed the babies milk from bottles (which made me move away from my spot on the wall) but then a naughty tiger came up behind me and bit me on the back of my leg and that was the end for me - my heart skipped 17 beats and I high-tailed it out of the cage. Unfortunately it was only a little nip and not bad enough to even bruise because a small scar would have made a great story of: “Yes, I got this playing with tigers in Thailand”. Jordan would have LOVED this scavenge and would have been much braver than I was.

Scavenge # 4: Enjoy a meal at Cabbages and Condoms: a restaurant with a purpose
This is a fascinating – but very nice - restaurant (that is down a back alley that you would never find unless you knew what were looking for) run by an AIDS awareness organization. All proceeds go to sexually transmitted disease education programs. Every decoration in the restaurant is made from condoms (including lamp shades and full art statues) and every wall is covered with AIDS awareness and education posters. Very clever. The food was excellent (or maybe it just taste great because we had not eaten since breakfast).

Observations: The Children of Thailand
All over the world little people like to swing. This little girl was in a smelly, gross, dirty dark alley off a food market… smiling and swinging away in her home-made hammock.

These young monks are begging at dawn for food