Traveling in Circles

Mekong River- brown and sluggish

We go to Mei Sai/Ta Shin Border town. Crossing into Myramar is not so bad, until we go to get the tourist visa in a dingy little room.

“Surrender our passports? Oh hell no…I mean I suppose.”

We pay way too much baht and stroll into a neighboring country. Into a tourist trap area where beggars follow aggressively, vendors hawk their wares militantly and the men with guns seem ready to shoot.

The heat and crowding get to us all and we retreat quickly back to Thailand. Precious passport in hand again.

Question: Where do you fall in the give money/don’t give money to beggars camps? Why?

“Yes, Sister Mary Linda” - pop up from cubicle, look down nose at the Merv from Texas and ask if ‘you girls are doing alright?’

See also: Sister Mary Linda’s Reformatory School for Girls

Wat Rong Khun a.k.a. The White Temple

The vision of Chalermchai Kositpipat, famous Thai artist. This wat stood out from the rest. All white with mirrors. It is an ice castle fit for the Snow Queen, it almost drips with concrete icicles.

Closer inspection shows a demon guarding a pit. White concrete hands reach upwards. For a Buddhist temple there is a strong flavor of heaven and hell in the design. A nearby statue has a liquor bottle in the middle and is half red and half white. I can almast hear the phrase “demon alcohol” as I look at it.

The inside is even more surreal. The murals are modern life splashed across the walls and pillars. Here there is aliens in spaceships, there is a sumo wrestler flipping the bird being eaten by a demon. Neo from the Matrix, the twin towers burning, blood dripping, gorgeous colors, faces, places. A rich space is created showing the modern and tipping its hat to the tranditional.

Sadly no photos were allowed inside the wat and they weren’t selling pics of it in the gift shop. I suspect they are waiting until its done to allow pics to be taken.

Sarah mentioned he was designing a temple in the US but I can’t find any info on that. If he is, it will be worth tracking down and seeing.

It’s a candy heat. Sticky, coating, heavy and leaving you feeling vaguely unwell. The rallying cry of “drink more water” is heard from everyone.
~Bangkok airport waiting to pickup the wayward three

Couple is taking meds provided by Thai government. He is stronger now and able to work with meds.

Sacula (sp?) Network—local hilltribe grouop, 10 villages in network.

Might work 5hrs a day.
1500-2000 bhat 2 hr in Chaing Mai
1500 bhat 1 hr in Bangkok
1 day = 5 hrs, 4000 bhat

Of 250 bhat she gets 100 bhat

Country comparison: Laos 1 hour, 500 bhat

University Fees- 40000 phD at Public University, 50000 for Ramkamhaeng in Bangkok
So approx 5.5 days of full salary would pay for a semester tution.

Easier to see how girls get tempted.

Check in.

Spaceship CLub nearby.

Beer garden.

Pongthon Chayatulachat, Director
Pong and 2 volunteers

People in area don’t have enough education and work in area, so they must leave and look in bigger cities (even out of country).

Broadcast radio in 6 hilltribe languages.
FM 102 MHz
130 km radius

Women had to be specifically invited to meetings.

HIV/AIDS Spread by sex workers who return home, some needle sharing.

Getting trust of people and language barrier are main problems.

Gorgeous forest wat. The murals are more modern inside one building. The temple cat appeared in eaves and on the roof.

Cave Wat
Fish pond- we feed the fish, watching the greedy guts goggle goodies.
More stairs.
We buy a latern and the services of a guide.
Bats–so cute, swooping near Stacey
Trooper on in the dark, slippery bat filled cave with small crawl spaces.

Quote of day:
“There’s blood on me, I think its Linda’s” — Lee

“Hail Caesar!”-translates into “Look out Peter is here!” The small child who was a ruthless ladies man and broke Sarah’s camera.

We had an appointment at 3pm to go to orphanage. We ran into a Tesco Lotus and got several things of ice cream. Then saw the cakes on the way out. Who can resist cake and ice cream for orphans? Not us. Soon two small cakes and several small tubs of ice cream have arrived. The women who runs the place is not there yet so we play with the kids a bit and wait.

It’s one of the helpers birthday so there cake and ice cream already. We left those kids zooming to the moon on sugar. Kathleen talks with us for abit about her faith, help from her churches and the difficulty in raising so many small kids.