Before coming to Thailand, the last bit of alcohol I had was in Diu, Gujurat - back at the beginning of January. It wasn't a difficult choice to make. India is not a drinking culture (especially in the north), and the people who do drink, do so purely to get drunk (a la Frat boys in the US). Bars are seedy places, the alcohol is horrible - and so, I quickly decided that I didn't need to drink anymore.
Thailand has a healthy drinking culture. Men and women do it, people seem to relax over a drink - and you don't see sketchy old men pissed in the street (most of the time).
The election happened 2 days ago, and so for the day before and the day of - alcohol was forbidden to be sold....
However, with that over....
They've been celebrating here in Pai for the last day or two. It's something to do with young men joining monkhood - there have been precessions in the street (costumes, dancing, music) - and it seems to be a general excuse for most of the townsfolk to have a bit of a dance, and get thoroughly pissed.
When in rome.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
More India Friends/ Trampish clothing
Bumped into another person that I knew from India yesterday. I suppose everyone is travelling the same circuit, but it still surprises me.
She walked upto me in the Internet cafe, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked "I know you, right? We swam naked together in Gokarna..." - which narrowed her down to a group of about 50 people.....
---
Pai is a very very conservative town filled with lots of hippy foreigners. The other night, while getting a massage, the girl asked if I did yoga. I suddenly felt quite proud, thinking that my extreme flexibility must be obvious to her after she had contorted me into a few different shapes. But no. "All farang (foreigner) men do yoga, I think".
Which sort of sums up the kind of foriegners who come here.
There are a decent number of muslims here (a few of whom run amazing night-time pancake stands) - and so it's really awful to see foreigner girls walking around in revealing strappy-tops and minute shorts that barely cover their bottoms. I feel quite a bit of sympathy for the Thais who are forced to see this, and considerable disgust for the foreigners who completely ignore the local standards.
At least in India, you have pervy-guys trying to molest western girls (who they think, as per Hollywood, are whores) - and so any girl wearing such clothes will soon find herself felt up to the point where she'll put some longer clothes on.
The thais are far too polite for this - and so the girls will continue to offend them.
She walked upto me in the Internet cafe, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked "I know you, right? We swam naked together in Gokarna..." - which narrowed her down to a group of about 50 people.....
---
Pai is a very very conservative town filled with lots of hippy foreigners. The other night, while getting a massage, the girl asked if I did yoga. I suddenly felt quite proud, thinking that my extreme flexibility must be obvious to her after she had contorted me into a few different shapes. But no. "All farang (foreigner) men do yoga, I think".
Which sort of sums up the kind of foriegners who come here.
There are a decent number of muslims here (a few of whom run amazing night-time pancake stands) - and so it's really awful to see foreigner girls walking around in revealing strappy-tops and minute shorts that barely cover their bottoms. I feel quite a bit of sympathy for the Thais who are forced to see this, and considerable disgust for the foreigners who completely ignore the local standards.
At least in India, you have pervy-guys trying to molest western girls (who they think, as per Hollywood, are whores) - and so any girl wearing such clothes will soon find herself felt up to the point where she'll put some longer clothes on.
The thais are far too polite for this - and so the girls will continue to offend them.
Minor Surgery/Weight Loss
A few weeks ago, I stubbed one of my toes, cutting it open slightly. I neglected to clean it, and trapsed around the streets of Port Blair (which, as all indian streets, were filthy and covered in human/animal waste)... and so it got infected.
After 2 weeks of mostly-every day cleaning it... I decided to give up and consult medical help. The infection wasn't going to go away by itself.
Thus, a visit to the Pai Hospital. The doctor confirmed the infection, recommended a very quick surgery - he cut it open, cleaned it out, and sent me on my way. The hospital was very nice, clean, and they spoke a surprising amount of english. The total bill - 800 baht, or about 20 dollars - not cheap compared to India's free hospitals, but damn cheap compared to the US.
While the nurses admitted me formally, they took my blood pressure and weight - the first time I've been weighed since I left the US... And, after 6 months of eating non stop in India - I'm really really surprised that I actually lost weight - about 30 pounds.
With only a few cases of food poisoning, and with the most delicious vegetarian food on earth - I'm very very surprised that I lost weight... but the evidence is there.
After 2 weeks of mostly-every day cleaning it... I decided to give up and consult medical help. The infection wasn't going to go away by itself.
Thus, a visit to the Pai Hospital. The doctor confirmed the infection, recommended a very quick surgery - he cut it open, cleaned it out, and sent me on my way. The hospital was very nice, clean, and they spoke a surprising amount of english. The total bill - 800 baht, or about 20 dollars - not cheap compared to India's free hospitals, but damn cheap compared to the US.
While the nurses admitted me formally, they took my blood pressure and weight - the first time I've been weighed since I left the US... And, after 6 months of eating non stop in India - I'm really really surprised that I actually lost weight - about 30 pounds.
With only a few cases of food poisoning, and with the most delicious vegetarian food on earth - I'm very very surprised that I lost weight... but the evidence is there.
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