Another day in paradise

December 6

I woke up at 3:30 just like Ron did yesterday…I thought we were over jet lag. It was so cold I put on my wool sweater and closed some of the doors. All our doors and windows have screens that are uncommon here. When we lived in Sri Lanka Ron got dengue fever so we asked Nattawan to add the screens to lower our exposure to mosquitos. The screens make the house warmer but this morning it was chilly.

Yesterday I read an article in Bloomberg News about the cartel invasion of San Miguel where we have hoped to live. After reading the article I don’t think it will be wise to pursue that dream. It seems grim from what I read. I’ve been watching real estate listings in San Miguel for months and now I understand why there are so many choices and why the prices are so low. OY! It is a heart breaker for me as I had my heart set on living there but my ardor has cooled after reading various stories. Time will tell but I don’t assume the cartel will move on anytime soon. I will continue to learn more.

After breakfast, we went to King Mongkut Park. We now go there each morning to walk for our exercise. Usually, we exercise at home for about 45-60 minutes but the move to Vancouver interrupted our routine so it feels great to be working our way back to regular exercise. Usually, it is too hot here for any form of exercise but not this week anyway.

On a brighter note, we visited Phra Nakhon Khiri today. This is the former summer palace complex of King Mongkut Rama IV. Known as the ‘celestial city of the mountain’ it is perched on the top of Maha Saman hill (302 ft.) This was built as the king’s summer palace in the 1850s. It isn’t particularly well maintained but it was a good excuse to get out of the house and take some photos. Over the many years, we have stayed here we have visited the site three or four times. The complex extends over three peaks. Ron took photos of various buildings but we stayed on the main peak which has easy access via a cable car. Otherwise, the climb up is quite steep.

Our favorite palace, Mareukathayawan, ‘palace of love and hope’ is on the beach near Chaam, about 40 minutes south of here. The palace of grand golden teak and was designed by an Italian architect and was constructed in just 16 days in 1923. It is so romantic with constant sea breezes and airy rooms. It was built for King Rama VI who died two years later and it was abandoned but in the 1970s it was fully restored. Many of the rooms are built on stilts about eight feet above the ground.

On the way home, we stopped at one of our regular places to eat and had pork with holy

basil with rice and sliced cukes on the side. With one small bottled water, our tab was $4.30. We are talking about big money now! This is a higher-end place with printed menus, metal chairs and tables…not plastic which is common in so many of the small limited menu places. Most of the places that serve one dish are under a tarp and there is little if any infrastructure which is one reason they are so inexpensive. We came home and had some sticky rice with mango and coconut cream, our favorite dessert.

Later in the afternoon, Ron got a foot massage downtown, one hour for $7.00. I walked around the area looking into shops to see what was there. No much. I was reminded of some of the differences between the developed world such and the US and the developing world such as Thailand. 

Thailand is no longer considered the third world. I don’t think that term is used anymore. But Thailand is not the first world. As an example, in front of many shops are other entrepreneurs who use any manner of temporary arrangements to squeeze onto the sidewalks to set up their wares. It may be food, clothing, etc. They often make it impossible to continue on the sidewalk, requiring pedestrians to step into the street to pass by. The other reminder I had yesterday was the sidewalk itself. Many in developing countries are made with pavers, not cast concrete. So it is not unusual to have pavers missing, broken or heaved up making for a terrific tripping device. I am clumsy and I must look at my feet under these circumstances. It is an accident waiting to happen. I remember being in Sri Lanka driving down a road in town and seeing a tree branch sticking upright out of a hole in the middle of the road as a warning to drivers that the road had caved in. I can tell you it is not effective at night. You will see that branch right after to run over it.

We ended the evening with a simple green curry and rice dish next to the park where we exercise then picked up Hope back at the house and took him out for ice cream at Swenson’s. He never orders anything but the bare minimum. We told him he could have anything on the menu but he chose a single scoop of Oreo cookie ice cream with a wafer. He thanked each of us at the time and again when we got home. He is a pure delight.