Bye Bye Thailand, Hello Bali Indonesia

Final Days and Thoughts on Thailand

Our last four days in Bangkok left me liking the city a little more. It is hard for me not to like a place where the food is consistently great. I also went by myself to the Jim Thompson house which is an oasis in the city of calm and beauty. Dave and I explored the Bangkok Art and Culture Museum which is one of the best contemporary art museum's I have been to in along time. And lets not forget dinner at Cabbages and Condoms an excellent Thai restaurant where you get a condom as you walk out the door and the first place I have ever seen mutilple art pieces made out of condoms. (It is run by a non profit that promotes family planning, something that has been very effective in Thailand.)

Final Thoughts on Thailand

There are next to no sidewalks in Thailand and people do not like to walk. Unless its in a mall. They have the biggest, fanciest malls I have ever seen (haven't been to Mall of the Americas so who knows) Shopping is a serious activity, every town has multiple markets, day and night, and the big cities have malls. Seeing older Western men with younger Thai women started to bother me. You never see Thai men of any age with Western women, of any age. They have these strange sort of fan shaped brooms you use with one hand that look like they could not possibly work but are super effective. There are ads every where for skin whitening and brightening creams, lotions and pills. It is sad that women want to be lighter/white. You do not see Thai people in the ocean, maybe on the beach or in the pool. There are lots of Thai tourists and a much larger middle class than I imagined. Overall Thailand was more Western and more developed than I expected.

I will never forget the day Dave and I spent going form one end of Bangkok to the other to get bus tickets to go to Chaing Mai. Along the way we got various food items. We had a bowl of noodles next to a road almost like a freeway. We sat on the curb, cars rushing by and slurped them up. They were incredible. In the Sky train stop along the way we got a mini waffle filled with some kind of sweet green custard. It was sooooo good. It was almost worth going across town through the traffic and the smog just to eat along the way.

Would I go back? Yes to do certain specific things and eat.

Ubud, Bali

Getting here was super easy. We arrived in Ubud in the Central highlands in the afternoon at Ketut Madra Homestay. This lovely place was recommended by my uncle and cousin. The older couple who run it are very kind and gracious. We stayed there for two nights while we looked around for a place with a kitchen to rent that was in waking distance of some of the things we want to do. We found a "villa", kitchen ed and bathroom on the first level, another bedroom and open balcony on the second. We are a few building down from the ARMA art center that has regular performances and classes so we often hear gamelon music. There are rice fields on either side and some brown cows and chickens who wander around. All this is right off one of the main roads in Ubud.

We have been here about ten days and have only gotten out of Ubud once. We are walking distance from yoga and dance class so Dave and I have been doing that. Anika is doing home school (algebra online among other things). She also is volunteering at a local private school three times a week helping them start a garden. I am taking a batik class that meets one more time. I am on my third batik, I'll take photos soon to post. 

Its hard not to compare countries as you go. Thailand was red and gold and white with orange monks. Bali is terracotta, gray  and green with white priests. The food here is good but not as good as Thailand. People are much more friendly, always starting up conversation. And they speak much better English. Both are full of temples but some are Buddhist and some are Hindu. People here are constantly making offerings and having celebrations. Their religion takes up a lot of their time.

The monkey below looks a lot like the one who stole my camera in the Sacred Monkey Forest. We live right down the road and went by to check it out. Dave got my camera back but he had to use a cucumber to make a deal with the monkey.

We did get out of Ubud one day to see the country side and some old temples. This photo below inspired a batik.