bags.

as we are about to leave thailand so many things jump into my head. so many things that have become part of daily existence but i haven't talked about at all. for example: bags. malaysian, thai and myanmar people are crazy for bags! whenever you buy anything you get a bag. something the size of coaster warrants a bag. fruit that is already in a bag neccessitates a bag. they try to pour your drinks into bags so you have to carry it around by the handles and drink it with a straw. every time, everywhere there is a frantic waving of hands and "o no no no! i don't need a bag! it's ok!" then they look at you out of the side of their eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, put the bag back down on top of the other bags and smooth out the creases, seemingly full of suspicion. it sometimes makes people feel a bit better if you show them your backpack so that they can be assured that you won't be doing something ridiculous like carrying an object directly in your hand. luckily bags are useful for cutting fruit on. bags.

so we are almost on our way to myanmar. there is no internet access there so i will not be able to blog to you all. possibly a good thing, as i have begun to talk about things like bags... we can send email from there but not from web based accounts so if you see any weird myanmar email address in your inbox give it a look see. also, i will not be able to check my email so if you have any questions please ask them now and i will try to get back to you before i leave. o yes, and mumsy and dadsy- i will try to call you before going to say hello, as international calls can apparently cost US$1 or more per minute from myanmar.

also, dad- what is a snow worm? i am as confused as vanessa....

you're all nuts.

like a small gang

so kids, who wants to talk about buddhism?!?!? haha- probably no on one who is on eben's email list.

but ok, this is the way it all went down. there is this place near chiang mai called wat umong and it is filled with monks and trees. after visiting there a few weeks ago we learned that they had a four day meditation program. i was interested, surprising myself as much as anybody. our *ahem* lovely stay in mae sai unfortunately made us miss it. somehow though, our stays in chiang rai and mae salong slid the days along so that when we returned to chiang mai we were just in time for the next session.

i have to admit that that i was nervous. monks are strangely intimidating and i always manage to do awkward/impolite/natalie-esque things around them. the course itself was not very structured and you could pretty much follow your own schedule apart from morning-5am- and evening-7pm- chanting. so we meditated, walked, ate, slept, breathed. in our spare time we talked quite a bit with some young monks who were trying to learn english. time passed as if in a dream and then it was back to the real world. or an approximation thereof...

by that i mean that we went to pai, a somewhat surreal place in the very north of thailand where hippies and strict muslims come to hang out. it is a beautiful valley in which the government coerces the sun to shine upon you in dazzling rays through clouds so as to promote tourism. it is also the home of hill tribe people decked in brightly coloured velour outfits and silver jangley things all over their bodies. the ensemble is not complete unless topped with some sort of dr seussian hat. we wanted to buy one for kristy but it seemed impractical. many of these people make puff signs at you as you drive past and we're fairly certain they weren't trying to sell us cigarettes.

o yes- as for driving past, we rented a motorbike which eben drove. it was like being in a small gang.

we rolled up our pants and waded around in mud wielding large sticks after eben dropped his sunglasses in a waterfall. we saw a tarantula. there is a park in the area with hotsprings so hot that people boil eggs in them. we visited them as the sun was rising through the mist in the very early morning. we even lit a candle and incense in order to be good hippies in the local spirit. eben got bit by a leech.

if you ever visit pai, eat at ginger vegetarian restaurant. don't question. just do.

now we're back in chiang mai getting our visas to myanmar. and our trip has been extended by two months.

happy birthdays to fiona and eben's mum! and vanessa- when is your birthday? am i horrible, is this totally the wrong time? have i missed it? i hope not. o dearie me.