yoga in Nong Khai, Thailand

Have arrived in Nong Khai, overlooking the banks of the Mekong river,
brown with the rainy season waters and filled with fresh Tilapia for
my favourite dish, Laab. My temporary lack of a camera means I've
taken these pics with the Photo Booth option but hey, at least it
gives you an idea of the views from the garden of my guest house, Mut
Mee. The rooms are decent, nothing fancy really, but I happen to have
one with views and a private deck of sorts (slab of concrete more
like). The location is great and the outdoor garden overlooking the
river makes for a book and siesta lover's dream. I've indulged in
reading my copy of Spanish Vanity Fair, my latest magazine addiction
(fabulous articles) and some pages off the latest acquisition, "more
Sex is Safer Sex - The unnconventional Wisdom of Economics" by Steven
Landsburg (following on from my enjoyable read of Levitt's
"Freakonomics").

I decided to go back to my traveller roots and ditch the 5 Star Grand
Luxe lifestyle of late just for an evening. Hence, my opting for the
12-hour direct VIP night-bus ride from Chiang Mai to Nong Khai. In all
honesty, and bar the rather tacky upholstery and duvet cover, this bus
put some airline's business economy class to shame!! Not only were the
seats 160degree reclinable with an extended foot rest tucking out of
the seat itself as a permanent fixture, but there was a rather clean
toilet on board and a busy hostess passing around pretty much anything
you might need as courtesy of the 600 Baht fare (that's about 12 USD),
from oshibori towels, to a full family size pack of oreo cookies per
person, coffee, tea, water and even a nose and mouth mask (for the
potential germ-factor). These are all the craze out here. The upper
deck was equipped with a massive flatscreen LCD TV many households
would only dream of and the seat even had the neck support on the
sides to ensure you didn't fall onto your neighbour. Best of all, we
had a fresh clean duvet each to cover up with. I must admit I was VERY
impressed and thought it beat in price, convenience and comfort the
two flights I would have had to take to get here (including the 5
hours layover that would've been involved in Bangkok) so cheers to that!

So now, after a week in Chiang Mai detoxing and getting colonics and
ayurvedic treatments, I am ready to delve a bit deeper into my renewed
self improvement. I'm glad to be back here, almost 4 years later,
listening to the sweet Laotian music coming through over the river
waters, hearing the odd fruits drop on the nipa roof of the garden
area and feeling life slow down as it should. Thoreau once wrote that
travelling is one of life's saddest pleasures. It may be true of some
days, but not today.

La Cartuja de Escaladei

The Cartujos, a religious branch of the Catholic church, set up camp below the stunning limestones "sacred Mountains" named as such "Montsant" here in El Priorato. Aside from their despotic stronghold on the local lands and it's peoples (proof being how their monastery was sacked and burned down within 3 days of their demise by local townsfolk), they seem to be the ones who began wine production out here - so we have that to thank them for, plus some very interesting, albeit derelict, ruins of their monastery. We wondered why if they were confined in their (rather spacious) quarters why they lived to be 90 and mostly died of gout? We had many a drunken ¨tertulia¨ about this after meals and concluded these guys stuffed themselves with salted fish, wine and turtle soup, and would then flagellate themselves for their drunken stupors, boredom-induced masturbation and the unconfirmed (but surely it had to be) secret entrance into their quarters of a string of voluptuous local damsels... no it's not a syndrome of modern times.  Of course the tour made no mention of that. It was rather interesting though. Here's a pic of the reconstructed entrance and another of Grandfather and Grandson in

Cartujano-style contemplation. 

Winding paths with fig trees

1st half of August 2009 - Cycling a sweet lonesome road between the
town of Torroja and Escaladei, in Spain's Priorato region, drunk with
the aromas of fig and almond trees lining the melting asphalt, whilst
every other bend hid a blackberry bush waiting to be pruned of it's
deliciously black fruit. Ahhhh and not to mention the vines and grove
after grove, row after row of olive trees following the oftentimes
challenging climbs. El Priorato sure is a well kept secret. If you
haven't been, what are you waiting for? It's not just the wine, but
the vermouth, the deliciously fruity olive oil, the nuts you can quite
literally pick off the trees, the pungent smell of pines.

The sight and smell of the pines is such a strong reminder of my
childhood summers, making me realise I prefer being in the countryside
in the summer. There's no mad dash for a spot on a sweltering beach,
the waters you bathe in are cold and refreshing rivers and mini
waterfalls. Whilst I do enjoy water sports at sea, I think I am more
of a mountain girl. And here we had the beach a wee hour away fi we
wanted it. truth is, in the two weeks we spent there, we didn;t set
foot once. It was more fun exploring the old towns, excavated
dinosaurs in the town of Tastavins or the hundreds of white collar
vultures patiently waiting for their feed at a local farm. So many of
these things we might not have done had we not had the little guys in
the party... gotta love having the children aorund to challenge your
daily routine and get you out of your set ways.
.

YUMMY

After 11 hours of rest in the balmy Chiang Mai night with the soft
purrr of the fan in the background I awoke to the warmest welcome from
Aun, the owner of Walai House and a good friend. Didn't really make
breakfast after our catch-up sesh so had Som Tam (green papaya salad)
for lunch, then snacked on kao new ma muang (Mango with sticky rice)
for merienda, finishing off with Kao Lao Soup (my all-time favourite
veg and herb broth) wth BBQ stuffed squid. Not bad for day 1 :-)

3 planes back to Chiang Mai

The blog is back on, new look and all!! I kinda promised myself to dedicate some time to creating new posts on the various flights over. Instead I spent most of the time sleeping, watching movies or finishing my book on male PUAs (pick-up artists). Whaddaya know! It's good to know the tactics of the opposite sex.

The past 24 hours have consisted of me dousing myself numerous times with Prada perfume at the two terminals I stopped over at (masking the I've been flying for 15hrs stench), pretended to be interested in
buying cosmetics just to sneak a cotton pad soaked in cleanser and tonic to attempt a clean skin look, bought 3 books and eyed a new camera. How very vain of me.

I've been daydreaming about being back in Chiang Mai for longer than anyone might imagine, and in closing my eyes I could see the metal design of the street signs, the neighbourhood with the fruit vendors, the soup place I love to dine at on the street… But nothing I re-create in my head quite matches the quiet sense of contentement I feel being back here in person. I think it's the familiar smells that take
me back to my last visit. The woman on the street with the satay BBQ, the sticky juice of a freshly cut pineapple washing down the sides of the street vendor's knife, or the smell of fresh laundry that accompanies you on any walk throughout this neighbourhood.

I purposely didn't pack liquids and gels… I always love going shopping for miniature soaps, shampoos, creams and even toothpaste. So I went out for my dose of powdery smelling westernised toilettries and
stopped by a new spot to order my favourite vegetable broth, made with cabbage, green beans, sweet basil, pork balls and sour sauce. I hadn't forgotten how friendly Thai people are, it jut does not cease to amaze me how they go out of their way to smile and with anyone, even those of us who are struggling to remember the few Thai phrases we learned in the past. It's been almost 3 years alter all! Better get some sleep or else the jet lag will get the best of me! More soon.