Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Distance of a Smile

Today was my day off. We motorbiked along the countryside and into the jungle. After negotiating a few streams, we navigated the faded trails until our wheels spun in the dirt and the vegetation was too thick for anything but feet. On our way back we found a lone farmer planting his final seeds at sunset, just before a monk rang the evening gong.

Over the last two weeks I have seen a full array of temples and technology. I've eaten exotic fruits, munched on bugs and (thankfully) seconded guessed street sushi. I've had a slough of diarrhea and horrific stomach-inverting vomit, witnessed multiple drug deals and an international championship of kick boxing. I've been submerged in cultural trances and humbled by local generosity. I've been massaged by butch prisoners, put to mercy by their thumbs. I've trekked to hillside tribes, ridden a bamboo raft and an elephant. I've danced and cooked with locals, celebrated with the king, and cried with a prostitute.

and there are still 3 more months to go.
Welcome to my odyssey through South East Asia.

I have as many stories as you have questions (what were you doing with a prostitute?!) but there is a particular story about one day, no, 12 hours on the Kings Birthday, and if you are patient, I will tell you.