The life of Riley

Sunday January 26 

Yesterday we had a slow day, doing small projects around the house and reading until after lunch. Ron got a wee bit restless so we decided to see if we could find a massage studio in town. We tried the one hotel and they said no services there. We tried another place that was way funky and she said after 6:00. So I suggested we explore the town more by parking the car and just walking around. We literally stumbled onto a great massage place with multiple beds and chairs. Chairs are used for foot massage. We were thrilled as we have been driving to Cha Am about 35 minutes away. This place was as good and cheaper. I say stumbled because as we were walking Ron was looking at this shop and stumbled a bit because the pavement is never level in this part of the world. There were two women outside and when he stumbled they expressed concern then said ‘foot massage?’ Afterwards we continued our exploration and found a DVD shop with English titles. Yeah, a little entertainment.  We came back home for a while then went out for dinner and tried a place I had seen as we were driving home.  They had a sign out front that said “Welcome” so I assumed they might have an English menu and they did.  They specialized in bbq where they bring this appliance to our table and it has a gas fired brazier and we were given a tray with pork slices and a raw egg and a bowl of cabbage and greens. We cooked the meat on the brazier and the veggies in a little ring of water that surrounded the metal cooker. All for $4.50.

Our good weather continues although the days are getting warmer. I still need a sweater in the morning and we still need the duvet at night. I am grateful that we don’t need the AC as I much prefer the quiet and the fresh air even if it means waking up with our rooster neighbor and the tropical birds screeching loudly at 4:30. How can we complain about that?

Today we walked up to our little village and ate at the little open air place. This place consists of a roof on posts with no floor other than the dirt and no sides to the structure. Under the roof are several elderly women selling what looks like desserts. Thais LOVE sugar and I find the desserts too sweet for me. Many are gelatinous which is a texture I really don’t like. In addition there is one woman probably in her 50’s who prepares food to order. She has a one ring burner using bottled gas, one wok, a small glass case with bags of chopped veggies, two kinds of noodles and some meats. There is no refrigeration although she does have a cooler of shaved ice for drinks. Today a woman who speaks perfect English was there and explained the difference between two dishes that are very similar: pad kee mao and pad se ew. We placed our order and within minutes we were eating a lovely meal. Ron observed that there were birds hopping around her cooking area where there were bottles of sauces and bowls of spices and I said there were some things better left unsaid and besides we were building our immune system! OY. Our bill was 60 baht, 32 baht to the dollar so less than two dollars for the two of us. I really cannot prepare a meal here for that little money so it makes no sense to bother with cooking. Besides we love Thai food and I cannot make Thai food as tasty as these little places serve.

For several days Noi, a family member who lives next to us has brought us hot coffee as a gesture to help us stay warm. This morning I was drying my hair in the bedroom and Ron was dressing after showering when he arrived. Neither of us heard him announcing himself so he came inside the house and into our bedroom with the tray. Ron was in his underwear and I am grateful it was him and not me! We all had a good laugh on that one.

We have been astounded at the air quality since we have been here. It has been most notable when we drive on the highway to go to the beach communities south of here. It is like pea soup if you look off into the distance. The mountains are shrouded in smog, reminding us of China! OY! We wonder if the pollution is from BKK or from China. Hard to say as we can’t find out due to our lack of language skills here.

Jan 28 Tuesday

We are enjoying our slower pace here. The weather is warming up. We still don’t need AC but I no longer put on a sweater in the morning. The smog is awful.  It gets worse each day and we have never seen it like this. It almost looks like the news clips of China. We are tied of restaurant food so tonight we are going to steam cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and potatoes and call it dinner!

We leave in the morning for Bangkok where we will have dinner with some Thai friends then spend the night. On Thursday we head to Burma for 12 days. I will post more blogs and include photos but access to the internet is limited there so bear with me.