Lovely Laos

Oct 20

Our bus to Vientiane was a huge, comfortable AC bus and it was packed. It took another two hours toThailand, get through the same at the Laos border and get into Vientiane and catch a tuk tuk to our guesthouse. When we first saw our room I was a bit disappointed. It seemed small and so did the bathroom. When I realized it cost $36 a night, had AC, a refrigerator where I could keep my prescription eye drops, a many channeled TV with BBC news, free wifi with computers for guests use and a breakfast with eight choices from the menu and you could choose any two, I had a change of heart.

get through passport control at the border of

After checking in we wandered around the neighborhood to get a feel for where we were. I also needed a laundry but couldn’t find one. We went back to the hotel to cool down before venturing out to dinner and it turned out the guesthouse provided the laundry service at a reasonable rate.. We decided to splurge and went to a lovely French restaurant. I am not sure when the French colonists left Laos but I would guess around the 1950’s-60’s. Because we are traveling for seven months to seven countries we didn’t bring seven travel books with us. We cut out the pages from each book of the cities we plan to visit as a way to lighten our load. Although this restaurant was highly recommended in our book it had an outdated address. It worked out well as the restaurant was an easy walk from our hotel. The meal was superb. I appreciate what the French left in terms of their culinary arts. The restaurant was small, located above another restaurant owned by the same people I think. It had an understated, serene atmosphere and decor and was romantic with fresh flowers on each table. The artwork, two large format photos of Laotian women that looked like paintings at first, complimented the ambiance. We shared a salad of mixed greens and great French baguette. Ron had chicken breast in a curry sauce with sweet potato mousse and veggies and I had a fabulous tilapia with veggies and a corn relish. We were back at the hotel by 9:30 and in bed, ready for a good night’s sleep. The heat here really sapped us. It is 91 degrees but feels like 101 due to humidity according to weather.com.

Oct 21

I failed to mention that in Laos the vendors, restaurants and hotels all will accept Thai baht, US dollars or the local currency. One US dollar equates to 8,048 Lao kip. Not a quick conversion when trying to calculate how much something costs. The reality is nothing seems to cost much here. We got up at 7:00 and walked down to the Mekong River. There weren’t any good photo ops because from the looks of it there is a large variation in the river level and so this time of year there was a long sandy stretch between the road and the river. We assumed this was the flood plain area. We stopped at a Swedish café on the way back and treated ourselves to a good cup of coffee. There isn’t a Starbucks here but it isn’t necessary as the French left their mark in that regard as well I think. Our breakfast at the hotel is served in the garden courtyard with wonderful plantings. See photo. The menu had eight choices such as: eggs to order with baguette, croissant, fruit plate, waffle, banana crepe, and two or three Asia

dishes. Breakfast was included in the room price.

We set out on foot and found a silk shop Leslie had recommended as well as our tour book. The shop, Lao Textiles by Carol Cassidy was a treat. We spent two hours with Carol. Initially a staff member took us on a tour of the studio. There are 40 Lao employees. The tour showed us the entire process of washing, dying, spinning and weaving the most incredible silk objects d’art. Carol joined us after the tour. She has lived in Laos for 20 years. She is an American who studied textile art in the US before coming to Laos. She worked in S Africa where she met her Ethiopian husband.  

Many of the items were exquisite wall hangings. As is our tradition, we bought a wall hanging for our 29^th anniversary present. November 30^th is our anniversary. We also bought a bracket for the hangers she has designed and two tassel items that hang from the brackets making a super display. Years ago Ron’s dear mom, Sonia, told us we were so boring because we gave each other practical gifts on our anniversary so we started a tradition of buying art each year. We are delighted to come away with such a lovely memory of Laos. Carol has started programs for weavers in various countries. She told us a great story about the non profit she is volunteering for in India Some of Carol’s work is sold through the Smithsonian.

 

We returned to the hotel to leave our weaving and went in search of lunch. We ate at a place filled with locals and had a curried pork rice dish. Good and cheap! After a brief rest at the hotel we headed out to see two temples that also serve as museums with various historical items and lots of Buddha statues. Wat Sisaket is one of the most important buildings in Vientiane and it houses over 7,000 Buddha images. The monastery was built in 1818 and was the only temple to survive the Thai sacking of the town in 1827-28, making it the oldest building in Vientiane.


 Across the street is Wat Pra Kaeo originally built in 1565 to house the emerald Buddha. This
building was destroyed in the sacking mentioned above. The building was restored in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During the restoration the interior walls were restored using plaster made of sugar, sand, buffalo skin and tree oil. The heat overwhelmed me and I had to just sit in the shade to regroup. Man oh man it is hotter than heck here. We walked back to the hotel where I stripped down and sponged off and got in bed right near the AC. Whew, what a great invention that is. Next we walked across the street for a foot massage Lao style.

We walked around and ended up eating at a funky little Indian restaurant and had a great meal of gingered chicken, spicy and rich with ginger, rice, bengain bhartha, a creamy smoked eggplant dish and garlic naan (The werewolves stayed away that night!).

Oct 22

Ron went out early in search of monks collecting alms and to photograph the early morning market. He over slept and missed the monks; but he came back with some nice market photos  The monks  walk along the neighborhoods gathering food from Buddhists who earn merit by preparing and giving food to monks each morning. Monks eat breakfast and lunch then don’t eat again until the next day. From the market Ron also brought back two sesame balls. When we lived in Portland this summer there was a great Asia restaurant two blocks from our house that made the best sesame balls. These were good but the Portland version was tastier. We went out for coffee after breakfast at the Swedish bakery around the corner and ate the sesame balls

We hired a brightly painted tuk tuk (see photo) to take us to theVictory Monument, Laos’s version of the Arc d’Triomphe. It commemorates those who died in the wars before the communist takeover. The story goes that they ran out of cement before completion. Refusing to be beaten, the regime diverted hundreds of tons of cement, part of a US aid package to help with the construction of runways at Wattay Airport, to finish the monument in 1969.The sign at the monument says it all.  

Next we visited That Luang, Vientiane’s most important site and the holiest Buddhist monument in the country. The present monument was built in 1566 and was plundered by the Thai and Chinese Haw in the 18^th century. It was restored at the beginning of the 19^th century. It’s surrounded by beautiful park lands that include a statue of King Setthathirat who was responsible for building the temple originally. As well as other more modern facilities.

Next we went in search of more silk. I wanted some silk to compliment the teal silk I found in Thailand and hit the jackpot near our hotel. I went to two stores which were side by side. One was having a 50% off sale and I got three meters of light weight silk for a song then next store I found exactly what I wanted: a raw heavy silk for a collar and cuffs on the jacket I am planning with the teal. Then I spied some elegant purple silk and couldn’t resist. All told I bought six meters between the two shops for $47!!!!  Score. After putting the silk in our room we ventured out for lunch and I was dying to try a Lao sandwich. More French influence here. We found a ‘sandwich café. How perfect. I loved my baguette with roasted eggplant, sautéed onions, lettuce, basil and goat cheese. OMG that was yummy. Ron liked his bacon tartine with béchamel sauce. We were fully sated and headed home for a cooling off.  Afterwards we opted for a Lao body/foot massage which we thoroughly enjoyed. Although similar to Thai massage it is gentler, less painful and more relaxing. We walked down to the riverfront where there was a huge night market and very popular with locals and tourists. Just about everything you might want or not was there. Lots of Lao textiles and well as everyday clothing articles, accessories for your cell phone, etc. We waited until it cooled off to go to dinner and decided on Italian again. We found a lovely place where we could dine al fresco. It was the coolest it has been since we started our trip to Laos five days ago and it was perfect. Most nights have been too hot to dine outside. The dinner was quite good. We shared a Caesar salad and Ron had pork scaloppini and I had salmon. No room for dessert. We stolled around town after our meal and eventually made our way to our hotel.

Phetchaburi to NE Thailand

Oct 18 & 19

 We came to BKK after turning in the rental car in Hua Hin which
is about 45 minutes south of where we live. From there we caught a mini bus (van) to BKK and unfortunately it was the slow bus, making frequent stops which made a 2.5-3 hr trip into a 4 hr trip. We spent the night at Leslie’s and got up at 4:45 to catch a plane to Khon Kaen ( an hour trip) in NE Thailand where we met our friend Surapong. After checking into our room, Surapong took us nearby to a daily fresh market that has small booths set up for serving food. We ate a typical Thai breakfast there. He had a noodle soup while we had kao mon gai (chicken with rice).

We walked around town then went on a search for some Thai silk. Years ago when Ron was working here there were vendors who would hang around in front of the hotels and sell precut lengths of silk to tourists. I was hoping to do that again. The beauty of having a local friend was Surapong knew exactly where they had moved to and walked us there. I would have never found them on my own. I got some beautiful silk in teal. Since we had a short night we suggested that we return to the hotel and rest and let Surapong have some time to himself.



We were meeting that night for dinner at his house. We rested until lunch time. We took a taxi to the

Central Market which is a huge shopping complex that was new to us. It has been a few years since we were last here. We found a place to eat up stairs and did a little shopping for gifts to take to Surapong’s two young girls, ages 7 and 4 years old. We found the NY Times in a bookstore so returned to the hotel to escape the heat and read the paper. We got a foot massage nearby and caught up on email until time for dinner.

Surapong picked us up at 6:00 and we joined him, his family and another couple for a great meal of barbequed meats, mushrooms, soup, shrimp cakes and fruit.  The other couple were Thai had lived in Boston while attending school there. The woman was a radiologist and her husband was a computer software designer. We had a great time with four kids running around, good food and excellent company.

On Sunday we decided to just relax. We started with a visit around the corner to Starbucks (good coffee is so hard to find in Asia) after breakfast at the hotel. We visited the gift shop at the Pullman which is a high end hotel nearby but didn’t see anything we had to have. It was hot after walking around looking for a gift shop that we couldn’t find so we ducked into another hotel and enjoyed a cold lime juice. We tried to connect with the vice mayor whom Ron had worked with in 2003-05 but he wasn’t available. We returned to the market and ate a simple Thai lunch there: duck with rice. We relaxed in the room again to escape the heat.

For dinner we decided to be brave and try Italian. Frankly we went in with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised. The salad was huge, fresh and delicious. The pastas were good as well. We couldn’t finish as the portions were large.

On Monday we went to Starbucks first then ate breakfast at the hotel. We checked out and took a taxi to the mini vans where we caught one to Udon Thani near the Laos border. While waiting for our van I heard this honking sound like you hear with clowns. A woman and man came around the corner pushing a cart with a live charcoal fire and various foods. Think ‘food truck’ except this was a cart. Many people came out of offices to get some hot breakfast. So ingenious. Talk about fresh food! Along the way to Udon Thani we saw lots of agriculture: rice, sugar cane, tree farms and other crops I couldn’t identify. 

The trip took longer than we had anticipated but we arrived aroundUS so his English is excellent. He is retired now and enjoys redecorating his home every six months or so. He entertained us at lunch with photos on his laptop. We walked from the bus station to a large new shopping mall where we had multiple choices of Thai eateries. Each of us got our food at a different stall but we all ate together. 

11:30 and were met by Chong. Chong is Nattawan’s first husband. Nattawan owns the house where we stay in Phetchaburi. Like Nattawan, Chong was educated and worked for many years in the

It was fun to catch up with Chong before we caught our 2:00 bus to Vientiane, the capital Laos.

Phetchaburi to BKK and back

Oct 11 2014

We have been in BKK since Thursday, Oct 9. Ron had an informal meeting from a professor at Thammasat University about doing some pro bono work. We came up on a van. I have described this system before: vans park in a certain area in Phetchaburi, in this case, and wait until it is filled or nearly filled then take off for BKK. We paid 100 baht each, about $3.00 each. Two hours later we arrived in BKK. Sometimes the van will stop to pick up other riders or let riders off before BKK. We often use this system when traveling between distances that we relatively short. There is not a lot of leg room for tall farangs (foreigners). We were lucky on Thursday because we were the next to last passengers so we didn’t have to wait long before the van took off.

After Ron’s meeting, we went out to dinner with Leslie, our friend from the Republic of Georgia. Leslie was our neighbor there, working for an NGO. Now she is posted in BKK working for another NGO. She has generously offered for us to stay with her when ever we are in BKK.

On Friday had lunch with Nuun and Nuch. Nuun has an exchange student in Tigard a few years ago and we became friends and have managed to see her every time we come to BKK. Her mom Nuch often gets together with us as well.

Afterwards the four of us went to see Pa Cha An who owns the property where our house is. She fell earlier in the week and broke a bone in her leg. She is 91 so we have been quite concerned about her health. She was in ICU. Her eldest son Nung was at the hospital and offered to take us to see her in ICU. She is an AMAZING woman. She had tubes going in and out of her body and had an oxygen mask on yet she chatted up a storm, laughing and smiling. I thought it was crazy for five of us to be in ICU with her and fortunately shortly after our arrival a nurse came in and said she need to remove some of the tubes and we needed to leave. I agreed. We took a taxi back to the town center and parted company with Nuun and Nuch. Ron and I went to a high end grocery store to get some items we cannot get in Phetchaburi. Then we headed home, rather weary from the day’s errands.

We took Leslie to one of our favorite restaurants, Once Upon a Time, which has a garden setting for the outdoor seating and the inside seating is in an old traditional Thai house. We have always had very good food there.

On Saturday we tried to get a flower arrangement in the flower shop next to Leslie’s but their stock was depleted so we ordered an arrangement for Sunday to take to Pa Cha An. Then we headed into the center of town and I got a manicure while Ron had his hair cut. We had lunch then went on a wild goose chase trying to get some caps for 5 gallon water bottles we use at the house. The company was closed so we decided to try again on Monday. We went back to the neighborhood where we had been for lunch and got a snack before getting a foot massage. Off to Leslie’s afterwards to rest up before going back out for dinner. We went to Cabbages and Condoms for dinner. We try to go here at least once each visit to Thailand. The owner who started the restaurant wanted to have an impact on the spread of HIV/AIDS and to help with family planning, particularly in the rural areas of Thailand. Cabbage is a very common vegetable here. He wanted condoms to be as common as cabbages, hence the name. The place is great fun with mannequins that are decorated in costumes completely made from condoms. See photos. Instead of after dinner mints with your bill, you get condoms.

Oct 12

On Sunday we picked up our flower arrangement and headed to the hospital to see Pa Cha An. Tui, one of her daughters was in her room and said Pa Cha An was being transferred from ICU and was due to arrive shortly. Once she was bought in and got settled Tui told her we were there and had brought flowers for her. I think I mentioned previously she is blind. We had a short visit then Nung and his wife arrived so we left. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and met Leslie for a movie, the Homesman, which was not good but it was great to be inside in the air conditioning. That night we met up with Marilyn and her husband Dan and Ann and Jeff, all of whom we met in the Rep of GA when Ron worked there. Marilyn now works for the embassy in BKK and Ann and Jeff for the embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. It was great fun catching up with everyone. We ate at a fabulous restaurant ‘Best Restaurant for 2014’ in BKK. Not only was the food great but the views of the river and Wat Arun were spectacular.

On Monday we hung out until 4:00 because Ron’s debit card had been cancelled due to the Home Depot hacking and his new one was being FedExed to him at Leslie’s. It arrived in good time. Because I wasn’t feeling well we opted to hire a car and driver to take us to Phetchaburi.

After we got home we went to the grocery store and got a quick bite to eat at a restaurant in the mall where the grocery store is before coming home and going to bed.

On Tuesday we both felt badly so we stayed in bed most of the day sleeping off and on. The only meal we ate was breakfast. We watched a video before going to sleep at night and both of us slept well. By late Wenesday we both were feeling better. We went for lunch and to get a few things at the grocery store.

Doing it the Thai way

Oct 3

Our car and driver showed up 40 minutes early but we were ready so we were thankful to get an early start. We were going to Hua Hin to pick up our rental car that we will rent off and on during our three months here. It is about a three hour journey but we made it in record time. After signing all the paperwork, we went to our favorite duck soup eatery and had a cup of duck noodle soup before heading to the grocery store and to Starbucks to get some coffee for the house which costs more than double than at home; but hey, I’m from the NW and if we know one thing it is life is too short to drink bad coffee. Then we headed home about a 40 minute drive back toward Bangkok.

Our little Thai house

Our house in located on a family compound. Pa Cha An is the matriarch. Her son Noi and his adult daughter Ai and her son Hope all live there. Noi’s former wife helps out almost daily. Her name is Lin. On the weekend other family members come from Bangkok where they work. Nit is Noi’s brother and Tui is Noi’s sister. Timm is also Noi’s sister and her husband is Tum. They live in Phetchaburi which is where we live. They have two children Pair who is in her last year of university and her brother Pon who is developmentally disabled and in a wheelchair. Our place is located at the end of the

property, next to Noi’s house and the river.

The big family house

Lin greeted us at the gate and got the keys toPhetchaburi River. The house was hotter than blue blazes. Lin helped open the windows. Fortunately our bedrooms have AC but the rest of the house doesn’t. Unfortunately the house was built without any attic ventilation system so it heats up easily and doesn’t cool down very well. It seems much hotter here than in Bangkok (BKK). We put the food away then started unpacking. Family members clean the house while we are away so it is a blessing that we don’t have to clean before settling in. Our bed was made, another gift. Lin offered to prepare dinner for us and we accepted her offer. Our history here has been that Noi, Lin or Ai will show up unannounced with a meal which has been unsolicited by us. Since we rarely cook it is always appreciated. Sometimes the food is something that isn’t to our liking but we cannot speak Thai and our family doesn’t speak English so it is difficult to relate our preferences so we aren’t wasting food. It is amazing how much we can communicate with our limitations. Ron’s new Smartphone has a translation app and the speaker can speak into the phone and it will translate what has been said. We tried it a couple of times with mixed results.

We drove to the water business to get two five gallon bottles

refilled but they were closed. Lin had gotten six liters for us so we were set for the night. When we returned from trying to get water, we stopped by the big house and had a visit with Pa Cha An who is 91. She is blind but seems to be doing well. She talks up a storm in Thai and we chat back in English and neither of us has a clue as to what the other one has said. But the sense of love and respect is evident.

After dinner we retired to the AC and bedroom to watch a session of a TV serial that Ron had downloaded before we left home. By 9:00 he was asleep and I made it to 9:30 after shower.

Oct 4

Life in the Jet Lag Lane

Ron and I are finding it difficult to stay awake beyond 9:00. Then we wake up in the middle of the night and read for an hour or so and fall back asleep. Today I woke up the second time at 6:30 and decided to get up. I was puttering around the kitchen getting it set up for breakfast. I took the butter out of the frig and put it in the butter dish which I left out to soften and I filled the sugar bowl. I decided to make a singe cup of coffee since Ron wasn’t up yet so heated the water, put the cone, filter and coffee on the coffee cup and was filling the cone with hot water. Once I got it filled, I managed to hit the cone with the teakettle and spilled the entire thing all over the counter. I got coffee grinds and coffee everywhere: in the butter dish, in the sugar bowl, on the bottom of the fruit basket, on the bag of coffee I had just purchased, all over the counter, the louvered cabinet doors below the counter and the floor. It took me 20 friggin’ minutes to clean up. That will teach me to be more awake before trying to tackle complicated tasks! Just after I finished cleaning up Ron woke up and came into the kitchen. Without realizing it was Saturday we made our usual Saturday breakfast of eggs and toast although we had found croissants yesterday in Hua Hin so we had those for breakfast today. I made coffee in the coffee maker without any problems. We also scored some great jam from the same store in Hua Hin. Living in a small town in Thailand we really appreciate the little things in life.

Today it is 88 degrees but due to the humidity factor the weather station said it felt like 95. Let me tell you it is hot, damn hot! We have stayed in the bedroom almost the entire day. After a while I get a little stir crazy and go into the living room but I almost get nauseous due to the heat. I walked up to the big house and had a lovely visit with Pa Cha An with Tui’s help. Tui speaks more English than anyone else. She is a nurse practitioner in BKK and comes home on the weekends to be with her mom.

The house has a small leak in the roof that needs to be fixed and the resulting damage requires some re-painting. Tui arranged for the man who painted the big house some years ago to come and give us an estimate for doing the repair work. With the help of several people, a young girl who knows some English, and our Smartphone app, we were able to come to an understanding on how the work would be done and how much it would cost. We’re going to buy the gallon of paint needed, and the labor will be about $60. Not a bad deal by US pricing. Besides, getting up into the attic to fix the leak is NOT something Ron wants to do with all this heat. Ron said if they do a good job, he’ll ask for a quote to repaint the metal railing along the river.

Living in Thailand and daily differences

I often get asked what we do when we are here. Life is different and some of that has to do with daily living. I will try to highlight those differences as they come to mind. For starters Thai houses are not plumbed with hot water. They wash dishes, clothes and bathe in cold water. Noi who lives right next to us in a cider block house uses buckets of water to bathe. I can hear him pouring a bucketful over himself several times. We had a small appliance installed in our shower that warms water on demand. We have had to replace it once in the eight years we have been here.

Washing dishes means using cold water or heating water on the stove to add to the cold when we have plates or pots that require it. The kitchen sink is small so I usually rinse the dishes first. Then I put a few inches of water in the sink with dish soap. If we ate something that had a lot of oil in it I will heat some water on the stove to add to the dishwater in order to get things clean. I will sometimes need to wash everything first and stack items on the counter then rinse, because there isn’t enough room in the sink to rinse the dishes as I go or the water gets too cold to do the job. There is no dishwasher, no washing machine or dryer. We used wash our clothes by hand then discovered a laundry up in the little village about eight blocks away. Later Ai and Lin asked to do our laundry. They were hand washing our laundry then Lin who lives off the property brought her small washing machine here so they use that now. Given the culture we do not pay them for this service but when we leave we give them a thank you card and money.

We rarely cook as our kitchen is small with a two burner stove top that will only hold one normal size pot and one small pot for example. Due to the heat and no AC in the main part of the house it is usually too hot to cook anything other than something simple like scrambled eggs. There is no oven, but we have a small toaster oven. Many Thai homes have an outside kitchen that is completely separate from the house. I think this operation will give you a clue as to why we don’t cook very often. Also, it is so inexpensive to go out to eat here or to pick up something from a cart that we often take this option. Tonight we had chicken we had picked up at the local grocery store and made a salad to go with it. It was too hot to eat anything else. I am hopeful that I will shed another few pounds with this heat. One of the challenges is finding food that we are familiar with. When we go out to eat most restaurants in Phetchaburi do not have English menus. But we usually find a way to order what we want…. but sometimes are surprised.

We do not drink tap water anywhere in Thailand. In the house  we use a cooler we brought from Sri Lanka when we moved in here at the end of 2006. We have two five gallon bottles and go to a nearby water business to have the bottles filled. When we use up one bottle we go and get it refilled so we always have water on hand. Given the heat we try to stay well hydrated by drinking a lot of water.

We have been in Thailand five days and have had three massages. Ron said we are falling behind. In Phetchaburi an hour long foot massage cost about $6. A foot massage in Thailand includes your feet, legs up to your mid thigh and shoulders usually. In Bangkok we went to a very fancy place that cost twice the price. There is a real range when it comes to massage salons. Some have technicians who are well trained and others are clueless. Some have soft lighting in a quiet room and others have florescence lighting and you sit is full view of passersby. When we were here last winter we couldn’t get an appointment in our usual place in BKK so tried the place two doors down. It turned out to offer massage or sex. One man came in speaking English and he was requesting the woman he had been with before. He said ‘she had dark hair’. Well that would include everyone in Asia, wouldn’t it? That was a first for us so we are more careful now. We prefer the places with better trained staff. The adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ holds true in most cases.

Another difference is our internet access. Here we use a pocket wifi system that requires some set up by Ron. Because we pay by the usage we do not have 24 hours access. Since it has been so hot here, Ron usually sets us up after breakfast in order to do our email.

At home I used a housekeeper to clean the house. Here we do it. Our house is a two bedroom house with a living/dining room, kitchen and sitting area which is basically one large room. There is a full sized large bathroom with a shower and a small bathroom with a toilet and sink. There is a shower wand but no designated area for a shower. The room is the shower. This is very typical in Southeast Asia. We never use it because you have to take many things out of there to prevent them from getting wet if you shower. All the floors are tile except the two bedrooms which have wood floors. The floors need to be swept daily and mopped frequently because all the windows and doors are left open throughout the day. Even though we have screens, we still get a lot of dust, etc. We go barefoot inside the house.

The biggest adjustment to being here is food. We love Thai food. But at times we want something else. It is difficult to find food that we are familiar with. It is always a treat to find a something where we recognize the label. We love dark chocolate and usually eat one or two pieces daily. Finding good chocolate is not easy and we have only been able to find it in two places, one of them is in Hua Hin 40 minutes from here. Yesterday I was thankful to find iceberg lettuce, something I never eat at home but finding any lettuce here is a gift. I don’t know what it costs at home but a small head was $4.00 here. I tried buying coffee here and never found any that passed the taste test so I am glad to find a Starbucks in Hua Hin.

We have one eatery we like here that serves stir fry and noodle soups but it closes around 4:30 or 5:00 so we only have lunch there. We have a place down the road from where we live and she closes at 4:30 also. She has a gas burner, a wok and she works under a thatched roof in a structure with no sides. Birds fly about, trying to get crumbs to eat. Once a bird hopped into her food case. OY!  We can also drive down the road and during the week there is this place that is open for about two hours. Three or four people staff it. There are about 8-10 choices. Each ‘entrée’ is in a large bowl. We point to what we want and the staff puts several large spoonfuls of the item in a small plastic bag that is sealed with a rubber band. This is very cheap eating but by no means gourmet. Grocery shopping is difficult. In order to find items we are familiar with we need to go to the largest store here called Big C. It is similar to a Fred Meyer Store in the Portland area where you can buy food, clothing, electronics, household and hardware items. In the US there is such excess so you will find many brands of orange juice for example and many types such as no pulp to lots of pulp with or with calcium, etc. No so here. I was thrilled to find something beside Smuckers jam on Friday and scored an imported Spanish jam that is quite good. There is a good fruit stand here but I haven’t found a similar vegetable stand. Big C does have lettuce, carrots and red bell peppers so I can make a salad. At home we eat salad almost every day.

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Let the travel begin

Sept 13-16

Charlotte has been cloudy and cool. We had packed for hot climates and we each have one pair of jeans, one sweater and one light jacket for cool weather. I think it is supposed to warm up tomorrow but looking ahead we will be in cooler climates the rest of our time on the east coast. Ron dashed off after lunch as he was giving a presentation on working internationally.

We are right in the city center here so can walk to restaurants and Ron’s meetings. I took Sunday as a day of rest. I got an Americano and NY Times and spent much of the day reading either in Starbucks or my room at the hotel. I loved the solitude and quiet after a very busy visit in SC. Ron got up early for a meeting and was gone most of the day.  We met in the late afternoon for a reception. I had seen a colleague of Ron’s earlier in the day and he asked if I would be wearing something from India for the international committee reception. I realized I did have one outfit from India so promised I would wear it. During the afternoon I discovered the 20^th Indian Festival in Charlotte and walked down the blocked off streets viewing the various stalls with lots of Indian clothing and jewelry. I treated myself to some samosas for a snack.

That night I was the only person in ethnic dress at the reception and a woman from India came to me and asked if my outfit was from her country. We had a delightful conversation about India and I told her we had been there six or seven times and loved India. She said her husband was an American and she thought perhaps he loved India more than she did!

The rest of our stay there, Ron was busy with his meetings and I was content to lounge and walk around the city.  We’d have dinner together with colleagues of his except for our last night when we ate by ourselves at a Spanish restaurant where we enjoyed Paella.

Sept 17-20

We flew to Hartford CT where our friend picked us up at the airport and drove us to Granby, MA.  We stayed with our dear friend Laurie Conly who we met in the Rep of GA (ROG) when we lived there. It was a great reunion, our third since ROG. 

We had great weather, sunny, crisp days and chilly nights. The first

day we took a long walks around Smith college.

And the next day around a reservoir, clocking about 5 miles.
We took a hot tub that night. We ate well and just had a grand time being together.

On our last day we did a boat ride on the Connecticut River.  Interesting and relaxing.

Sept 20-22

Jacob - our oldest Grandchild

David and Mark - age 9 & 12?

From MA we took a bus to New York where we stayed at the Parker’s apartment in Manhattan. Pat and Dick Parker are our daughter in love’s parents. They live in ME but keep a great apartment in the city. We spent time with David, our son and Anne his wife and their children, Jacob who is now taller than his mom and Elizabeth who is blossoming into a lovely young girl.

Robin Siegle and Mo Barron

Reid Rosen

We arrived on Saturday and on Sunday we gathered with family
members from as far away as CA to celebrate Sonia Duboe, Ron’s mom. There were 19 of us: our youngest was Sonia great grand son Reid at 10 months and the oldest was Sonia’s brother Mo who is 83. We had a wonderful time being together and celebrating Sonia’s full, rich life. Sonia passed in September of 2013 at 92.

On Monday Ron and I decided to chill. We’ve been moving a lot since we left Portland Sept 6^th. About every three days we were in a different bed. We have been with people the entire trip, seeing relatives and friends. The only time we were alone was when we drove to NC from SC to see a friend from my college days. That was an hour each way. So we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast over the NY Times, had a tasty deli lunch at the apartment and went to see Love Is Strange in the afternoon. It was a good day. That night we had dinner with our NY family.

Sept 23-25

On Tuesday we took a cab to Penn Station and went to RI by train to visit Sandi and Bill, Ron’s sister and her husband. We always have a grand time being together.

On Wednesday we drove to a nearby nature reserve and took a walk near the bay. We had lunch at a small farm and finished off the excursion at Purgatory Chasm.

RI is so beautiful with incredible stone walls, beautiful old homes, some built in the 1700’s. We went out to dinner for a delicious Italian dinner joined by Maxine, Sandi and Bills’ daughter and Pete, her partner. On Thursday we stayed home making dinner and we took a walk to mail our November ballots in between rain showers.

We leave tomorrow quite early to drive to Providence to catch a 6:40 flight to LA.  Sandi and Bill were too kind to accommodate us by driving us to the airport at 4:10 AM.

Sept 26-29

Time flies when you change residences every few days! We stayed at an airbnb in Redondo Beach, about two blocks from where Ron’s 50^th HS reunion was held. It is owned by Gabe who was out of town but he has two house mates, Justin and Dave who took good care of us. Our room was on the main floor which was upstairs from the entry. There was a large living/dining area, a good sized kitchen and lovely patio overlooking the ocean. Our suite had a great bedroom with large screen TV,

iron and board, and a hair dryer. Gabe thought of  everything! We
took it easy upon arrival as we had gotten up at 3:45 in order to leave the house by 4:10 to catch our plane in Providence for a quick one hr flight to Baltimore and then a 6 ½ hour flight to LA after a 2 hr. layover.  After resting briefly we walked to Whole Foods and picked up some deli food and fruit and took it back to the house and had a lovely lunch on the patio.  Later we explored the Redondo pier and enjoyed a lovely sunset.

The next day we walked to Hermosa Beach so Ron could walk down memory lane. His first professional job in public admin was there. He had a good time remembering favorite haunts including the area of the beach where he hung out as a kid before he could drive. Saturday night was reunion night and I actually had a good time. I knew one person besides Ron, Rich Attridge who had worked  for the City of Portland when Ron and I worked there. Ron had a great time reconnecting with various attendees. He introduced me to a woman whom he had “married” when he was five! Apparently their older sisters were creating dramas and had decided a marriage was in order.

Sunday was a relaxing day with coffee, the Times and a walk to a
classic car show that was on the pier. WOW! Those cars were incredible show pieces. One was for sale for $80,000. A rather pricey hobby! My favorite was a restored 1920 something fire engine, complete with chromed or nickel plated nozzles, a fire hose, and a wood ladder. I can’t even begin to imagine the cost involved in the purchase and restoration. We ended the day with dinner in the harbor with Heidi, Ron’s sister, and her husband Drew. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Heidi has just completed a round of treatment for cancer and is healing nicely after surgery, radiation, chemo and more surgery.

We returned to our house and finished packing, and left for the airport around 10:00 p.m. Our plane was scheduled to depart at 1:30 a.m. but left at 2:00. We were to have a two hour layover in Taipei but that turned out to be a mad dash to the other terminal with enough time to grab an Illy coffee before boarding the plane.

Sept 30-Oct 2

We landed in Bangkok around 11:00 on the morning of the 30th, a 20 hour trip all told. For the first time EVER we were first in line at the immigration line. We have been to Thailand about 17 times and usually have to stand in line for up to 45 minutes so imagine how pleased we were. But that was balanced by our luggage being the last to arrive which took about 30-40 minutes. We zipped down stairs and while I got some baht (Thai currency) Ron got SIM cards for our mobile phones. We

grabbed a taxi and headed for Leslie’s. Leslie gave us a recommendation for a massage which was a short two blocks away. We had foot massages before dinner. Leslie and the two of us ate at a nearby restaurant before heading back to the apartment and crashed. Somehow I managed to stay awake until 9:30 but Ron took about an hour nap in the afternoon.  Leslie has a wonderful apartment on the 14th floor of a nice building several stops on the Skytrain from where we normally stay in Bangkok.

On Wednesday our goal today was to get our visas for Laos. We took the sky train to the subway and took a taxi from the subway. We had everything in order so merely had to pay the fee and leave our paperwork and return at 2:00 PM. We went back to our old neighborhood where we usually stay when we are staying in a hotel. We had lunch at a fun place called Chez Charley. The owner has become a friend and her key staff person always recognizes us and greets us warmly. Sitting next to us was a couple woo asked where we were from. They were from Spokane, so we had a good laugh over that. They are teaching at an international school in China and we had a good time exchanging stories of our mutual adventures. After lunch we went on a trek in search of a dust pan for Leslie. Ai the owner of the restaurant had given us a tip on a store that would carry them. Unfortunately we made a couple of wrong turns so walked further than necessary but we were rewarded with the dust pan. Next we hopped back on the sky train, then subway, then taxi and returned to the Laotian embassy to retrieve our passports with visas only to do all this in reverse to go home. It was warm today and way humid so we were rather pooped by late afternoon. We relaxed for a while and then Ron said it was 5:40. Good lord where did the day go?

We walked up the street and ate a hibachi dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant. From there we returned to our massage place and Ron had another foot massage and I indulged in a traditional Thai massage. Ouch! I was so stiff from sitting on airplanes. Before I went in I realized my neck, back and hips hurt from tight muscles. Thai massage is very athletic as it were. The therapist uses her feet, forearms, elbows and thumbs of steel to work the muscles. Tonight was no exception. Several times I suggested she lighten up as I was experiencing pain but she giggled and told me to relax. Right! Back to the house, we visited with Leslie. Ron went to bed about 10:00 and I stayed up to 11:30 on the computer trying to update the blog. I then read awhile. We had been up since 5:00 a.m. so I was surprised I could stay awake that late. Then I woke up at 4:00 and didn’t get back to sleep until around 6:00. I woke up with a start at 7:00 as I needed to head out early for a hair appointment. Leslie had recommended the salon. Oh my, it was very high end with a formal reception area that hid the rest of the operation. It was beautifully decorated. I was taken to the back section where a woman showed me to a raised bed that allowed me to lie down while she washed my hair. It was lovely. My head rested on a device that is similar to a dish drainer but made for this set up so the bed didn’t get wet yet my neck was fully supported. Then I was taken to another area where she combed out my hair. I then waited for the stylist. He came about ten minutes later and asked how short I wanted the cut. After he finished, a different woman rinsed my hair again and dried my hair and then the stylists returned to do the finishing touches with his scissors and shaver. Very interesting, all for $50 which is an enormous amount of money here and $15 more than I pay at home. I am thankful that he knew how to cut hair well and will use him while in Thailand. I then took the sky train to Starbucks in Times Square (Bangkok that is ) and met Ron for coffee. Then we went to the tailor to inquire about a jacket. This was followed by a dual pedicure. What a treat that is. Again we have found a salon that is very professional and does a great job. We have been to various massage parlors and salons and have learned that not all establishments have trained personnel. So when we find one that is professional, we stick with it. We topped off the morning with a dosa (a large lentil flour pancake stuffed with potatoes, onions and spices) at a vegetarian Indian restaurant before coming home for the day.

Getting Ready and Getting Started

August 22

We are wrapping up things in Portland. It has been a great summer but I couldn’t tell you how we spent it…it just seemed to move along until it was gone! We somehow thought we would have lots of free time, enough time that we might take a drive up the NW coast in search of a Native American mask to add tour collection. That didn’t happen.

The past couple of weeks we have been doing things like taking items from the house we are living in for the summer to our storage unit. We gave our Tahoe to Mark, our older son so borrowed it when he was in town to take the larger items to the unit.

Today marks two weeks before we head out to the east coast and the beginning of our odyssey. We are spending the weekend volunteering for a fund raising event for Our House of Portland. A friend asked us to help her with the cooking so today we were in her kitchen from 8:40 until 4:40. Sophie is a fabulous cook of Indian cuisine, one of our favorites. The dinner for 20 is tomorrow night so we will return tomorrow to help with what needs to be done.

Next week we plan to put more things into storage. We did a practice pack this week to make sure we could pack for seven months of travel in four suitcases. We made it in three. Our goal is to have only the minimum here to pack and take to the unit our last week. We leave Sept 6^th so on the 5^th we will take our bed and bed/bath linens to the unit and any clothes we will not be taking with us. Our Vietnam visas arrived this week, we have suspended our magazine subscriptions and the NY Times, all effective Sept 5^th.  There are so many details to tend to when leaving for an extended period of time. We make lists, mark things on the calendar and think we have thought of everything only to realize we have overlooked something. This week we realized we should get our flu shots before leaving. An ad at a chain pharmacy brought this to our attention.

August 30, 2014

We are now a week away from leaving. We took another load of boxes to the storage unit this week and started more packing today. We will pack all the clothes we aren’t taking with us, all the kitchen items, etc early in the week. We won’t cook after Wednesday. We are making menus from what is left in the freezer and pantry. We took 26# of canned goods and some bed linens to a food bank and household goods place this week. Our load is really getting light!

I have been going through our itinerary and copying notes I made while researching plane, train and bus schedules. So now everything is on an Excel spreadsheet instead of scraps of paper. It is beginning to feel very real and I am excited. We got our flu shots yesterday so we crossed that off the list.

Sept 5

This is our last day in the house we have rented for the summer.  Ron downloaded videos then we made our first run to the storage unit took longer than expected due to a couple of hiccups. We had a plastic cover for the mattress and it turned out it was for the split box springs that we stored in May. The cover we needed for the mattress was on the box springs and we couldn’t get to them. So crafty Ron split the two smaller covers and taped them to each other to make a big cover. It worked but took too much time. Then it took a long time to get the mattress into the space pushing, lifting and grunting seemed to do the trick. We raced off from Sellwood to the unit with the second load and threw it into the unit and dashed to Vancouver in time for Ron’s haircut. We had a late lunch of fish tacos at Woody’s which are the best! Then we went to Max and Donna’s who will take care of our car while we are gone. They drove us to Howard Johnson’s near the airport where we spent the night. We walked about 15 blocks to a great little Colombian/Venezuela place for dinner. We found Mama Leo’s through Trip Advisor and it was fabulous.

We got up at 3:45 to get to the airport by 4:45. Not enough sleep by any stretch of imagination. We arrived in Greenville, SC about 7:00 where we will stay with my sister in the mountains near the NC border. On Sunday, the next day, my sister had all my nieces and nephews and their families up here for lunch. In addition friends of ours from Atlanta drove up to join in the fun. My family all talks at once, loudly. It was a great day.

On Monday we drove up to Flat Rock NC where James and Doug were staying and spent a few hours walking through Hendersonville NC, pursuing shops. We had a great pulled pork platter at a local restaurant before heading home. We thoroughly enjoyed getting in another visit with them before they headed back to Atlanta.

Sept 9

Today I drove to Greer SC to visit a cousin of mine. It was under an hour’s drive. I took a route through some back roads. I came across one of the biggest crosses I have ever seen. I am in the heart of the Bible belt here. At the foot of the cross were the words “Behold the Lamb”. In the NW where we live there is a Starbucks or other espresso shop every two blocks. Here there is a Baptist church every two blocks. On the way home on the same road I saw a sign that read “Fried Oreos”. Welcome to my world in South Carolina.

Sept 12

We ended our stay in SC with a visit with my cousin Ben Geer and dinner at a fish farm. We dined on fried catfish and hush puppies. It just seemed a fitting way to end this part of our trip. Tomorrow we will get up early and Toni and Charlie (my sister and her husband) will drive us to Charlotte NC about two hours away where Ron has his annual ICMA meeting.