YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BUDDHISM

CHIANG RAI, THAILAND

Temperature: 23 degrees celcius

Track of the day: Only time, Enya

"Do you mind if I turn the light on," Alecs asks after hearing me rollover in bed. "What time is it," I respond grogilly still keeping my eyes closed. He informs me that it's only 4:00AM and as I hear him walk towards the light switch I shout at him to go back to sleep like a normal person. Two and a half hours later we're sitting in the hotel restaurant eating a not-so-great breakfast that is typical of Thailand and starting to get excited about the day.  "Relaxing here at the resort was nice," Alecs says between sips of coffee, "but I feel a little too isolated here." He's quite right, pampering ourselves is great for a day, but it should be left at that - a day. After taking my last bite of rice we head to the lobby to make some calls home, through the wonderful world of Skype. A pop-up

 box appears on my screen alerting me that 'Kevin and Lorrie Green' are trying to call me.   After clicking 'answer' I am instantly transported to my parents kitchen and they into Laluna Resort. After a 45 minute conversation with mom, dad, Sam, a whining Klinker and a quick look at my little Shadow, I feel ready to conquer anything. Alecs checks in with his family just in time for our minivan to arrive for our full day tour. Patiently waiting in the van Alecs asks how many more people I think will be joining us. "Probably at least 3 or 4 more," I reply, counting the seats in the van. A young Thai girl open the passenger door up front and introduces herself as 'Bhee.' We grin widely at each other when the van sets out the driveway with only the tour guide, driver and the two of us in tow. Bhee is fluent in english and french and is a fountain of knowledge about the area and of course the culture. Stop number  one has us walking through the small hill-tribe village of the Akha people, who came here illegally from Myanmar many years ago. "The older people in the village do not have papers," Bhee tells us, "but the younger generations have Thai passports." We wind through the village along dirt paths, past houses made of banana leaves and bamboo and soon we have a couple of kids in toe. "How old do you think this child is," Bhee asks us, gesturing to a small boy who barely reaches Alecs' chest. Alecs guesses 6, while I gauge him to be about 7. "Would you believe he is 13," she tells us, noticing the shock spreading across our faces. Bhee continues to tell us that these people are very poor and the children are small because they are malnourished. In spite of these peoples hardships they are still smiling and making the best out of what they have - something we could all live by. When we reach the end of the village some local woman have small souvenier stands setup. Alecs and I have our eye a long handcrafted wooden opium pipe and purchase it despite having

 nothing to do with it. "Now we go to the Yao hill-tribe," Bhee tells us as we walk five minutes to another small village. Although these two tribes are moments and steps away from each other, they could not be more different. The Yao people dress is much longer clothing because they migrated from a cold part of southern China. "The Yao tribe values education," Bhee tells us, "but the Akha tribe does not think education is important, they believe in hard work." We pause at an older Yao woman who is sitting alongside a dirt r

oad in the village cross-stitching a purse. "The skirt this woman is wearing took her one year to sew," Bhee tells us, pointing out the intricate detail that went into such a piece of work. "I can't imagine that," Alecs says looking closer at the colours and designs that cover the entire skirt. Wandering around the village, we can't help but wish we could have spent more time in the hill-tribes getting to know the people and their way of life. Just as soon as we arrive we are heading off to another part of Thailand - the ruins of Wat Jedee Luong. Alecs points out the window of the van at an Pagoda that we soon learn is 800 years old, only 200 years younger than the city. Tucking our bare feet under our legs, careful not to point our toes towards the golden buddha before us we wait patiently while Bhee pays her respects to the holy Buddha. "Why do some of the monks wear different coloured tops," I ask Bhee after she finishes praying. Pointing to a monk in the distance who is wearing

the traditional orange robe on the bottom with a yellow robe on the top I explain my question to her. She tells us that the colour doesn't mean anything and then pauses to stare at us for a moment. "You really don't know anything about Buddhism," she says laughing. We nod our heads in shameful agreement clinging to her every word so as to be better informed. Next stop is the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet along the Mekong River. We travel up to a lookout point where we can see all three countries come together in what looks like seamless harmony. "Lao people are friendly like Thai's," Bhee tells us as we stare out at the mountainous valley, "but Burmese not so much," she adds. There is no love loss between these two cultures, but the dark past between them makes it easy to understand the negative feelings they have for each other.  We head to an opium museum before a nice buffet lunch where we learn about the illegal growing, selling and transporting of opium that

 continues to support this area. Then we continue north to Chaing Saen, the northern most city in Thailand. Chiang Saen borders Myanmar and is bustling with locals wh

o cross the border to gamble and buy knockoffs like gucci which are both illegal in Thailand. "Do you want to visit a Jade factory," Bhee asks us when we enter the city. We both nod our heads interested to see how Jade is cut. There are two rows of small desks that separate the men, who carve the Jade into sculptures and the women who polish them. We learn about the qualities of the rock and that the most expensive Jade is a perfect emerald green. "I like the lavender coloured one," I whisper to Alecs, after learning that it is also the most imperfect colour of Jade. "That's good news for me," Alecs says noting the cost of a top quality

Jade stone. After walking quickly through the high-class souvenir shop we head to the sprawling border market to do some shopping. Several monks pass us by on the street, some shopping, others chatting on their cell phones. The day ends with a scenic drive through the mountains, past vendors selling strawberries, pineapples and toasted chestnuts. "Too bad we didn't have more time here," I say while staring longingly out the window at the beautiful scenery. "I agree," Alecs says, "but i'm sure we're going to love Laos." Tomorrow morning we head to the Thai-Laos border in hopes to catch the 2-day slowboat down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. We'll be spending the night in Pak Beng, Laos and will be out of touch for at least two days and perhaps three, but a long post is sure to come after that. Until next time, so long.

Alecs and Meg in Chiang Rai

PS. We've added videos to our past two blogs as well as this one. Click on the blog title to view these.