Thailand-Day 9-Chiang Rai to Chiang Saen

Another morning meant another bus ride, this time to go visit John's roommate's parents' house. His roommate comes from Chiang Sean, a town north of Chiang Rai about 20 km south of the Golden Triangle. We went there to see a more traditional, somewhat rural lifestyle. With the directions from his roommate, we simply told the driver to stop as we approached their house. As they live on the main road through town, this was pretty simple. They actually live a short distance outside of Chiang Sean. The road is lined on both sides with houses or shops, and behind the houses on each side are rice paddies, rice paddies, more rice paddies and some other crops. We began the day by just helping out with some gardening-as the father of the household was already out in the fields (and had been since the break of dawn). We helped water some plants-which was apparently all we were qualified for, and other wise just sat around. John enjoyed chatting with the mom and his roommate's sister, who was home for the weekend. It was a very peaceful setting, as the mom was very calmly and slowly splitting bamboo reeds for basket weaving.

After lunch (delicious), the dad returned, and he was quite springy and chipper for his age. He took us out to the rice paddies, where John and I both got really muddy desperately trying to manage a mechanical tiller. It was quite an experience for me, apparently all the skills I learned as a youngster on Grandpa Max's tractors are long gone. I'm not sure if we were able to slip and slide our way to any productive work, but were told at the end of the day that it was good enough that he wouldn't have to re-do it. Not sure if that was a compliment or insult.

Later in the day, after our "help" was no longer needed, we took one of their motorcycles up to the Golden Triangle. I was most excited to see Burma-as entering it as a tourist isn't so easy, and now have seen (but not entered) both North Korea and Burma, two of the world's rather more interesting (and oppressive) countries. More exciting than all the kitschy handicraft vendors was the fact that on our way there I suddenly got worried as it seemed the steering was going out-but I soon realized that we had a flat, and was able to successfully (if not smoothly) pull over. We walked the bike along (assuming that a bike mechanic would be on side of the road soon enough). Some nice girls passing by told us to turn around, as the closest was behind us. You know, the thing about Thailand, is that the sunny weather and palm trees make walking a motorcycle up the road pretty enjoyable. We chilled on some stools with some errant chickens while the motorcycle was quickly fixed.

It was a truly great visit, and one of my favorite days during the Thailand trip. I loved just hanging around with the family, seeing them go about their daily duties. The house had an awesome set-up, with an open air kitchen, dining table, and sitting area in what might be called a giant patio. The mom was very methodical in all her tasks, but never showed a bit of urgency or haste. This was incredibly different than the 100 miles a minute pace of life in China (albeit not my life). They were quite kind, and John was again a very helpful translator. We had a fantastically scrumptious dinner with the mom, dad, sister, and a niece and her boyfriend, who go to college nearby, and were visiting for the weekend. We ate traditional Thai style sitting on the raised platform, eating with our hands and sticky rice from a big communal plate. I actually felt a bit guilty, as some of the barbecued beef was so good I couldn't help but eat much more than my share. John's roommate (who I never actually met) had quite a nice family, and his dad-between helping me teach him the names of fruit in English (we got stuck at orange) and ardently inviting us to stay in the morning-was a true character.