The Road Less Traveled

Wednesday, November 7

So, we set out this morning after breakfast to see the Botanical Gardens here. I can't even begin to go into how huge, beautiful, well-maintained, and perfectly groomed they were. Astounding. I think I took a hundred pictures. I saw, for the first time, an entire greenhouse of pitcher plants, close up (they are carnivorous plants, very perfectly engineered to catch and digest bugs of all sorts). It was lovely.

We had heard that there was a little village of Hmong people up in the hills, so we set off to find it. We asked for directions at a roadside restaurant, and I got three words - "road," "Mok," and "Kok." Hmmm, I thought, we passed a sign for a town ending in Mok Kok about 2 Km back - was that it? Using hand gestures and some broken English, we established that it was, indeed, that road we wanted, and about 5 Km farther we would find the village.

There are Hmong people in most of these Southeast Asian countries; they tend to be a hill-dwelling people and they do craft work that is exquisite. So, back we went, found the road, and went climbing into the hills above Mae Rim. And climb we did; the view was incredible, the air was crystal-clear, and the sky was the bluest I have seen in a month. The road narrowed...and narrowed some more...and became wide enough for MAYBE on car...and then, around a curve, there was a tiny little village with lots of women selling their crafts. OK, so I bought stuff, what can I say? But I got a handmade, quilted jacket that is perfect (lined, even!), and it was about $20. I did notice two things, which should have been mutually exclusive: I saw no men, and almost every woman there, aged 17 to maybe 43, was pregnant. I wonder how that happened?? In any case, I got some photos and we were on our way again.

On the way back to the resort, we stopped at an Elephant Camp. I was expecting the worst - touristy, dirty place with a few unhappy-looking elephants. Oh, contraire, mon ami. The elephants looked healthy and (if an elephant can look this way) happy. They were playing soccer (yes, they do that when trained) and painting. Heck, one of them painted WAY better than I ever could - I have a photo to prove it! It was well worth the admission price (which, I think was something like 50 cents).

Now, I am back at the hotel, about to have a shower and a nap and do a little reading before going back out for pork soup later on.

I hope all of you are doing well, and I shall see everyone soon (dang).

:-) Janine