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My crossing back into Thailand was evidential that geographical proximity bears no neccesary reference to cultual similarities, as the shock I received, was apparent:

-- Border crossing: Huay Xai Laos to Chiang Khong Thailand --

In the morning, we stamped out of Huay Xai and went across the river to Chiang Khong; the border on the Thai side. The friendly immigration official on the other side stamped our re-entry visas and arranged for two motorbikes to carry us free of charge to the bus station. The buses were all full and so we purchased tickets on the local bus to Chiang Mai. Seven hour journeys have become a thing of normality and we were happy to board the bus. What we did find bizarre however, was the reverse culture shock we were experiencing. After a whole month in Laos, Thailand (a developing country) suddenly seemed.... developed, orderly and industrialised. Jeez. Shops, roads, houses, banks..

Thailand; round two

Asha Patel
2006-08-23 10:40:55

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marketplace to form a perfect recipe for dejection and entrapment. Towards the end of the market stalls, there was a religious ceremony taking place at the temple and we joined. They were comfortingly reminiscent of the Hindu religious ceremonies around which I'd been raised. As it began to pour, we left the scene and ate street pad thai and watermelon. I was craving masala chai. Together, we scoured the streets of Chiang Mai in search of an Indian restaurant. On soi nine, off Mun Muang we were rewarded with the sounds of Bollywood music and an elderly couple inviting us in to their vegetarian restaurant. We each had a banana lassi and masala chai, chatting til late into the night. Late enough for me to have tired. I was. Extremely. Yet once again that blissful ecscape called sleep eluded me.

22 May 2006. Cajoled myself from semi to full consciousness so that Kat and I could go and rendez-vous her Canadian friends who had been in town a while. Breakfast was a light fruit salad, to which my stomach did not take kindly and punished me with pounding aches, for what I thought was a healthy start to the day. Calendars, calculators, guidebooks, paper, pens, diaries and thinking caps laid out across the table, we planned and scheduled the forthcoming weeks. Travel really is taxing. Who said I was on holiday??!! The task was made more arduous than it ought to have been, for my desires were divided: travelling thailand, and, that place I call home. For all my persistent homesickness, I knew that I wouldn't leave. So, I planned to remain in Chaing Mai another week. Back then, the days, even the moments seemed long enough. How would I deal with a whole week?! We proceeded to walk around the city, unending streets of inescapable heat, combining with the stench of gutters, sewerage and open drains. Of course, my homesickness would have me focus on every negative aspect of the city and my perspective of Chiang Mai was therefore tainted. The day had ...