Thailand--the end of an adventure (or a beginning?)

I'm feeling pretty groovy at the moment, with a tummy full of the deliciousness that I made in my Thai cooking class this morning and relaxed muscles from my one hour Thai massage that cost me a whopping $7.  Tomorrow morning I start the 18 hour journey back to Colorado and admittedly after 2 months on the road, I am looking forward to:
1.  No more squat toilets, pay toilets, or hunting down toilet paper
2.  Not wearing a money belt everywhere that gives me the ever-so-attractive stomach pooch
3.  Sleeping more than 1-2 nights in one location and on mattresses that aren't just slightly softer than the floor
4.  Wondering whether the food I just ate is going to play tricks with my stomach
5.  Thinking so hard about whether I have enough clean clothes to make it to my next laundry opportunity and finding new ways to cram more into my backpack.

Me and Tamar cooking up some green curry

My Tom Kha Gai soup and best green curry ever

That all said, this trip is 3 times longer than any other I have taken and I feel so fortunate that I could take this journey, it was incredible.  I spent most of this week in northern Thailand, the highlight of which was trekking into the hills to stay overnight in a village and then travel back partially by elephant and bamboo raft.  First we visited some tribal villages, including a Karen tribe where the married women wear colored clothes and the single women wear white.  Most of the villagers were cutting bamboo to be woven into baskets for sticky rice and such.  Then the hike to the village was about two hours but with some steep bits, so luckily our host crafted some hiking poles out of bamboo.  Afterwards, my travel buddy Pru and I used them for some battles ala Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Everyone in my group stayed together in an elevated hut, sleeping on mattresses with mosquito nets.  With a very modest fee of $1/person, we were entertained around our campfire with a traditional performance from some local girls.  We also led them through the hokey pokey but I guess it's a smaller world than you think because they seemed to know it already.

Married Karen woman in traditional clothes

Darling village girl not the least bit shy about checking out the foreigners

Villagers at home cutting bamboo for baskets

Pru and I battle it out

My group checks out the homestay--we slept in the hut pictured

Dance performance by the village girls.  The traditional costume includes metal bands worn around the waist.  

Incredibly our elephants each held 3 people plus the mahout (guide) and my mahout actually balanced right on the elephant's head.  My fellow riders Pat, Vicky, and I were slightly disconcerted to learn that our elephant was 45 years old and elephant life expectancy is only 40, but we came through unscathed and watched amazed when he chomped down a whole tree as a mid-ride snack.  Next we rode bamboo rafts and I mean literally bamboo poles held together with cut strips of tires.  Each of us took a turn as a raft gondolier but whatever my next career may be, it's surely not as a raft captain.  

Pat, Vicky, and me (plus our mahout) on our old elephant

Boarding the bamboo rafts

One other noteworthy stop was the White Temple near Chang Mai, one man's vision strange yet sometimes beautiful creation.  Inside the temple, some of the motifs include the burning twin towers, Neo from The Matrix, and Michael Jackson.  Oh, and did I mention the golden bathroom?

At the White Temple

Fanciest bathroom building I've ever seen

And with that, 849 days and 20 countries later, I am returning to my homeland.  I plan to keep this blog going just a bit longer, so expect to hear soon about my readjustment to life in the USA.  The adventures may just be getting started...