blissing out...

Ahh Thailand …what a delightful place of incongruous dichotomies and sensory delights…we are in love I think…it was much more than a pleasurable holiday for us and has claimed a place in our hearts that will see us going back again and again… the Andaman sea is warm, dramatically aqua blue and edged by glorious white sand…

Thais on the whole are a gentle and respectful folk as warm and inviting as the Andaman Sea. The wai is the common form of greeting. You raise both hands, palms joined with the fingers pointing upwards as if in prayer, lightly touching the body somewhere between the chest and the forehead. The wai is both a sign of respect as well as a greeting. Respect and courtesy are demonstrated by the height at which the hands are held and how low the head comes down to meet the thumbs of both hands. Respect and courtesy are very prevalent in Thailand as I see it, and it is one of the many wondrous dichotomies of even the most hectic parts of tourist hives… Many of their rules of etiquette are obviously by-products of the Buddhist religion. It is a non-confrontational society, in which public dispute or criticism is to be avoided at all costs. Openly criticizing a person is a form of violence as it hurts the person and is viewed as a conscious attempt to offend the person being rebuked. Loss of face is a disgrace to a Thai so they try to avoid confrontations and look for compromises in difficult situations. How nice and how evidently does this affect the energy of Thailand…we could feel the reasonableness, the calmness… even amidst the seeming chaos in poorer areas and areas where tourists bring their own less respectful energy into play….

And then there is the food, the beautiful shrines, the temples, the elephants, such remarkable elephants….the smiles ever where, islands of truly amazing scenic delights…ahhh Thailand….

Needless to say we had a memorable time and even though it was short we have forged many links and found new friends to revisit and share with. And yes we intend to do it all again only much longer next time….