17 September 2019
"A friend of mine once said, 'whenever I go to a new city, I make sure to visit the market.'
This has stuck with me.
The heart of a place, the way life is lived, the things that are valued, the way people treat one another
can all be seen at these places.
Bangkok is defined by them.
They come alive as the sun goes down, sizzling, suffocating scents that assault your tender, foreign nose-
squid and scorpions and deep-fried something-or-other.
They part like a curtain as quickly as they came, as you reach the next stall, in search of something sweet.
​
On our way to a club called "The Club" on Khao San Road
and the night was alive
our neon friends passed in the darkness.
We danced for hours.
3am the streets just as lively
A sleepless city
on the other side of the world
​
19 September 2019
In Chiang Mai, we stumbled upon a secret.
It began as we departed from Doi Suthep, the grand hilltop temple with the stairway reaching to the heavens.
Our friends who felt unwell returned to the Airbnb, and Sophie and I were dropped off at a roadside waterfall.
We hiked up and beyond, on overgrown jungle pathways
which opened up to a holy pool, where a dozen young monks played.
They slid downstream on rafts of foam
and jumped from cliffs, trees, and waterfalls
and laughed, and yelled, as young kids do.
A monastery tucked away atop a nearby hill, hidden from the outside world.
They made no objection to our presence
and we left their world forever
​
