It finally happened. A really long lapse in blog posts. I figured it was inevitable, but I do have a good excuse for it.
We decided we needed to be home for Christmas. We decided that about two weeks after arriving in China. But our families didn't know until we arrived, which was amazing.
Honestly! Family, friends, Mexican food and clothes that didn't come out of a backpack. As Amy Grant would say, it was the most wonderful time of year.
Also, we celebrated our 6 month anniversary! Six months in and we still decided to board the plane and return to Bangkok.
So, we were in Bangkok.
We rented an apartment and stayed a few days. We ate pad thai,
visited the Grand Palace (which was a conglomerate of various temples, all beautiful and ornate),
visited other temples,
followed a fieldtrip of adolescent Buddhist monks through the national museum (one of the highlights for me- Matt said he saw one swing at his friend without realizing Matt was there. I love it, they may be monks, but at the end of the day they're also teenage kids.),
we rode ferries,
we climbed up a temple (it felt more like rock climbing than stairs),
we saw a lot of Buddhas (gold, jade, bronze, decorated, plain, fat, skinny, standing, sitting, reclining, young, old, whole, in ruins; reclining Buddha is my favorite, I just feel he has his priorities straight in life),
we went to a house designed by an American architect that is comprised of traditional Thai houses (beautiful- the list of what to include in our house someday just grows),
we went to a mall and a Whole Foods type grocery store (I think we would have been way more excited about this had we not been back in the states)
Matt did all our plans for Bangkok on his own- we had a lot of fun wandering.
We also went to a mind-blowing weekend market. I don't know how to explain it. At first it was rows of clothes- like a consignment store x 1,000,000 (this is not an exaggeration). Then you keep discovering new areas: dishes, scarves, candles, American Indian dreamcatchers, bags, statues, shoes, wedding supplies, pet supplies. It was unbelievable. I think you could find anything here. My favorite part was definitely the consignment area. We ended up leaving with a new shirt for Matt, 'diamond' earrings for me (they were less than $1), a picture of a Thai chair that I wish I could fit in my backpack and fresh coconut.
After Bangkok, we flew to Chiang Mai. We liked Chiang Mai. It's smaller and in the hills. There are many expats (and therefore many cafés). The Old Quarter is a walled in section with many temples, or wats. We stumbled upon the folk museum (loved it) and a private insect museum (someone's fascination with insects and other earthy things required the space of a building, so they turned it into a museum; Matt loved it).
So, one of the things I have missed while traveling is making and creating. I've been collecting and planning for when we are home, but I haven't gotten to create with my hands. I love makers. Makers of anything. So, if a store says handicrafts, I don't even have to ask Matt to stop, he already knows.
I'm a maker of things. Matt is a maker of food. I realized that the entire two weeks we were home, I didn't cook a thing. Any meals we contributed were all from Matt (I do know how lucky I am).
So, we took a Thai cooking class! We walked around the market and learned about the typical ingredients and exotic fruit. Then, we cooked. We made (and ate)five courses! Stir fry, soup, salad, curry and dessert. Matt and I chose different dishes for each course so we could taste more, but he was so excited about the unlimited peppers that the extra tasting deal worked out better for him than me.
(Pure joy, there, right?)
There was a lot of fish oil going on- did not previously know that about Thai food.
We got a cookbook, so we will be inviting everyone over for a Thai food when we get home. Come hungry (mostly because you want to make it to dessert- mango and sticky rice- life changing).
While we're on the subject of food (a favorite of mine) let's review drinks. China-milk tea, Nepal/India-chai, Sri Lanka-arak, New Zealand-premixed chai (just as good in my opinion), Thailand-Thai Iced Tea. This isn't a discovery, we've had Thai iced tea before, but oh my goodness. I don't know if I realized it was sweetened condensed milk they pour over it, but I do now. So good. And so cheap. Really hard to not get five everyday.
Anyways, Thai food making is happening at our place- Fall 2015.
You may think the making stops there, but oh no, it does not.
We left Chiang Mai and flew to our only stop in Laos: Luang Prabang. It's a quaint little town blending traditional Lao culture and French colonialism together. Basically this means you can find wats and croissants across the street from each other.
There are also some amazing makers here. Block printing, ikat, weaving. I found so many tapestries I could have brought home with me. There is a shop called Ock Pop Tock (east meets west) that is full of incredible textiles. While there, I read about the classes they offer. And there it was a weaving class. I want to learn to weave. I am in love with the resurgence of woven wall hangings- it's a skill I want to have. So, pretty quickly I decided to sign up.
The next day, we took a tuk-tuk to the Crafts Center. It's a beautiful place sprawled on the riverside with a cafe and these incredible open air workshops full of looms. I ended up being the only student, so I picked my colors and met my teacher and got to work.
The women who weave and teach here are all from a village about 15 minutes away. They have been weaving since they were young girls, having learned from their mothers and grandmothers. (Beautiful, right.) they work here now, as one way of preserving their heritage. I had a teacher and guide. The guide spoke English and the teacher was a master weaver.
It is incredibly technical how they set patterns, counting and separating strings. I didn't do that part, but everything else I learned. Her eyes watched carefully and kindly as I passed the thread back and forth. Her sharp eyes quickly caught when the pattern was off by one string- one tiny thread!
My work is far from perfect, but sitting there in the breeze watching the silk thread come together into a beautiful design was mesmerizing. My hands felt so good.
Well, I caught you up. We are on an overnight train in Vietnam. We spent a day in Hanoi and are getting used to a new culture and a new currency. (It's always kind of fun to make a withdrawal in the millions from the ATM.)
My favorite story so far: we went to a grocery store to get snacks for the train ride. I always check out what kind of dairy they have (and when I say dairy, I mostly mean cheese). I found it. It was basically just packs of Kraft singles (which, when you're desperate, can be ok). Every single pack had a security alarm wrapped around it! That was the only guarded item in the grocery store. Apparently, people go to extreme measures to get their cheese.
So, onward. No promises, but we'll probably update you sooner, rather than later, this time.
