First Day in Thailand

We were both a little bleary yesterday due to jet lag, but we had a good day. After a bit of a rest in the morning, we went to our sister hotel, the Smith Residence, not far away. There are a lot of restaurants in the area and we had lunch nearby. For our first real Thai meal, we both had the standard Thai dishes we tend to order and re-order in US Thai restaurants. (Not very adventurous, I know.)

My Pad See Ew (chicken & vegetables with wide noodles)

Dan's Pad Thai (pork, bean sprouts & peanuts with narrow noodles)

Carvings on restaurant wall

Novel condiment holder on table

After a bit more rest in the afternoon, I went to the rooftop pool and had a good swim. It isn't very large, but big enough to swim back and forth. Dan even came up and got in the water (unusual for him!).

We headed out and into the Old City in the evening for supper and to take a look around. 11 years ago we stayed in the Top North Guesthouse and enjoyed many massages at Seenuan's massage school right across the street. I wanted to see if it was still there. The hotel was there but the massage school seems to be a large restaurant now. I wonder what happened to the owner. It was a very interesting story:  she had been a nurse working in a local hospital when an Englishman was there for surgery. He had a bad turn in the night and would have died except for her coming into the room and getting him some help. He was very grateful, and set her up in a lovely traditional Thai wooden house for a massage school. Two of her daughters trained and worked there with her. They were lovely, friendly people and we enjoyed getting to know them. The Englishman came by most days just to chat. It wasn't a setup like many others we see – middle-aged to elderly western men are frequently seen squiring around young Thai women. We even heard one yesterday talking with an older woman to see if his young woman could go on a 5-day trip with him. He would pay her expenses, but could she afford to miss out on what she usually earned giving massages? One wonders...

For dinner we stopped at a restaurant that offered Indian, Thai and western food (?!). Dan had Massaman Curry and I had Green Curry (Thai, not Indian). Both were vegetarian and quite good. The evening's walk was relatively long. I was a bit tired, but it helped a lot to get out and move after being inside so much in Spokane and the long trip. We both slept quite well.

Thai homes and businesses nearly always have a Spirit House on the premises, a shrine to the protective spirit of the place. Below is a photo of the one for our hotel. They are often quite elaborate, and flower offerings are frequently placed in/on it.

This morning (Saturday) we went back to the same place as yesterday for breakfast. The muesli/yogurt/fruit is delicious. I hope today we can find someplace to get a few more provisions. The Tesco Express and 7-11 have some things and we managed to have our morning tea in our room. But we'd like to be able to do a bit more of our own food.

We are looking forward to two special things today – Darab's friend Ming from the Goshen College Environmental Center is meeting us at 10:00 to show us around. And today is the Saturday Walking Market, not far away. I hope to have lots of good pictures to post tomorrow!

Thailand!

We are away again! After the last winter spent in Goshen, we were eager to escape the cold and snow. We visited Thailand at Christmas 2003 and always thought it would be nice to go back, so we decided to do it. We have taken a room in a suites hotel in Chiang Mai and will be here through January and February (except for a short trip to Cambodia and Vietnam you'll read about later if you follow along).

We spent the week from Christmas to New Year's Eve in Spokane, WA, with our son Dirk and his family. It is always so good to be with them. All three of their kids and a special friend were there, so we were a household of eight. Lots of games and laughter all around. It was very cold and turned icy so I didn't get out of the house very much. I am still a bit tentative about walking and somewhat fearful of falling. So ice and I stay away from each other as much as possible.

We got up at 4:00 AM on Dec. 31 to head to the airport for our 6:00 flight to Seattle. Maya had decided to stay up (she is a college student!) and take us, then go to bed. She is a very careful driver and safely got us to the main roads which were clear. It is a short trip to the airport, so we had plenty of time. At Seattle our bags were the first ones on the carousel (that's never happened before!), so we picked them up and headed upstairs to the Korean Air checkin. Unfortunately, it wouldn't open until 9:00, so we found a cafe and had some breakfast. Once we were checked in, we had passes to the Delta Lounge and settled in. It was great to have wi-fi, snacks, and drinks freely available. The view out the window of the plane was over the Olympic Mountains, and we could see Port Angeles, the town nearest to the Makah Reservation where Dirk and family lived for eight years (and the ferry port for Victoria, BC). We both slept for about 6 hours after they fed us lunch. We only had about an hour at Incheon-Seoul Airport, but the gates weren't too far apart and it wasn't a long wait. I was unhappy that we had to go through security again, as I lost the bottled water I had with me.

We arrived at Chiang Mai about 10:30 PM. We got through immigration quickly and our bags again were in the first batch to arrive. It was quite a long walk to the taxi stand, but we got there and the driver brought us to our hotel, the Smith Suites. It is just south of the Old City of Chiang Mai, a brand new 7-story residence. Our room is spacious and includes a kitchenette, small desk area, eating table and chairs, and a king-size bed. It's going to be very comfortable, and there is lots of storage space. The place is very high-tech; they use facial recognition to unlock the door into the elevator area.

Linens and kitchenware are supplied, but nothing else. So Dan went out to a nearby 7-11 and got drinking water and toilet paper. This morning we went out to the Chiang Mai Gate Market and got a few more things. We also had breakfast at a small coffee shop on the way. We'll be doing our own breakfast in the room once we get set up. It can be a bit of a challenge to figure out what to buy. Most labels are in Thai, with occasionally a word or two in English to help.

View inside Chiang Mai Gate Market

Stall inside the market

View along the Old City Gate – part of the old moat

Breakfast menu at P&B Cafe

Muesli with yogurt and fruit (delicious!)

Last Day

It is Sunday morning here, our last day in Bangalore and India. Our plane departs at 03:45 Monday morning; we will leave for the airport at midnight. We will probably get home around 9:00 pm on Monday evening, assuming all connections and departures/arrivals go as scheduled. It appears that all our things will fit into our three suitcases, always good to know!

Dan got back Thursday evening from visiting four orphanages in the far south. He enjoyed seeing the good work they are doing. As often happens, he was considered an important visitor and had to make a speech in several places. Here is the program from one.

Saturday we all went to Barbeque Nation, an Indian chain we first tried when we were in Bangalore six or seven years ago. It is a wonderful place to overeat! I took lots of pictures.

First, the charcoal grill is put in the centre of the table

Skewers of starters (appetizers)

Starters menu

Seekh kabobs are brought around

Smashed small potatoes are especially delicious

After eating lots of grilled fish, prawns, mushrooms, etc., we are ready for the buffet.

Put down the flag to signal no more skewers

Buffet Menu 

Biriani

Two of the curries

Salads

My plate sampling four curries and curd rice

My dessert sampler - cantaloupe, brownie, mango cheesecake, butterscotch pastry and ice cream

Dhruv's dessert - watermelon, brownies -- after ice cream

Dhruv didn't want to be photographed!

Nina and Mahesh

That was pretty much it for Sunday! We finished by 3:00 and no one wanted any supper. Below is a picture of Dhruv (11) with a bionic hand he made out of Legos.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a market to pick up a few things. Nina bought some bananas that the vendor just sliced off the stalk hanging there.

Bangalore

We are having a quiet visit here so far. Dan left early Tuesday morning to visit some orphanages in the far south; he flew to Trivandrum. Tuesday was also a holiday so Dhruv didn't have school. He and I had a good time seeking out some chocolate at a nearby shop!

Monday for lunch we went out for a meal from Andhra Pradesh. It is served on a banana leaf. We had the "mini" meal, which primarily means less rice. In any case, I could only eat half of my rice!

Tomato chutney, cabbage/coconut, dal with spinach

Side dishes -- sambar, rasam, buttermilk and dahi (yogurt)

Dan enjoying the end of his meal

Mahesh

Abhiruchi restaurant from across the street

After finishing, we crossed the street to a sweet shop. I had some mango burfi, something I had never seen; it was delicious! It was bright orange and very mango-y in flavor. I was so excited I forgot to take a picture. (Burfi is an Indian sweet made of milk reduced to almost solid and with plenty of sugar.)

In the early evening, we went up to the top of their building, which is ten stories tall. The views of Bangalore were spectacular. It was smoggy in the distance, but still very nice.

Dhruv had school on Monday and this is just when he got home, uniform ready to be removed.

I've taken several walks around the two apartment blocks in this compound. The weather is very pleasant. People here are wearing sweaters because it dips below 80°F. The gardens and surroundings are lovely.

Bougainvillea

Canopy trees along the perimeter

Hibiscus

Swimming pool (water is quite cool now)

Tuesday morning after Dan left I had tea and papaya at the B and B for a pre-breakfast, then joined Nina and Mahesh for a delicious savory vermicelli breakfast, a new dish for me.

There are a number of shops along the road we walk. I especially like this one's sign (it is a paper recycling shop). You can call Hari if you have any questions!

On the Road

Our taxi was on time, even a bit early. We headed down the hill about 1:00. As we left, we noticed the funeral truck waiting to go to the cemetery. They had decided to have the memorial service at Saroj's home on Tuesday afternoon.

We had tea with our friend Ajit and his sister in Dehra Dun. It's always good to see him. He had recently been ill, but was quite recovered. We had a lively conversation about music, Indian instruments, the state of music teaching at Doon School, and more.

We reached the train station without incident and enjoyed the comfortable ride and meal. Brij met us at the Meerut station and we headed off to their house. A pleasant two days followed. We were pleased to see the improvements to the house -- the first time I'd seen the expanded kitchen. The outside was also faced with new tiles and the ground floor had marble flooring. Very nice! Jason is 7 now and doing well in school. He has a very good and patient tutor who comes every evening and he seems to enjoy working with him. He loves to swing on the stairs and jump down to the floor.

We caught the same train into Delhi that we had arrived on. I took a few photos at the station. There are always people sleeping in train stations in India, and I managed to catch these right behind the bench we were waiting on. Across to the next platform, a local train pulled in and many people got on and off.

It was a short night, as we got settled in our hotel room about midnight and had a 7:00 taxi to the American Embassy. We needed additional pages added to our passports and were able to make an appointment here -- easier than mailing them off when we are home. We waited around a bit until we were allowed in at 9:00. (It was only a 40-minute drive but we never know how bad the traffic might be; in this case it wasn't bad at all. We were the first ones into the US citizens area, although there were more than a hundred people waiting in the tourist and immigration visa line for Indian citizens. The entire process took about an hour, then we headed back to the hotel and had some breakfast.

In the afternoon we took the Metro to the new Janpath station. It opens out right in front of Cottage Industries, with another exit close to the Tibetan shops. We had a good visit and some tea with Doma. She is 88 now but seemed in better condition than when I last saw her two years ago. 

We took the Metro again, this time to Mayur Vihar, across the river, where Anju and Sandeep live. They ordered mutton biriani, which was wonderful. It is made in clay pots, sealed with flour and water, wrapped in foil, and roasted. Absolutely delicious! Three of these small pots was more than enough for the four of us.

Another early morning on Saturday as we headed to the airport for our flight to Bangalore. Shortly after we left the hotel, our driver asked if it was all right to stop for a minute. He had some food for the pigeons at this intersection. While we were there, several others stopped to feed, them, too.

Mahesh and Dhruv were there to meet us at the airport -- so nice to see their smiling faces again after too long! They have shifted to a new apartment complex near their old one. It is very nice; it even has a swimming pool that looks lovely, but I don't have a suit with me! We spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday relaxing and visiting. We are staying in a nearby B&B called Maple Suites. A bit ironic, as we live in Goshen, the Maple City, and there are no maple trees here!