we are alive

If anyone has seen the rolling stones in the last week, you had better go down and strangle the guy you scalped the ticket from because for the last couple of days we have seen mick in all his glory, hiding out in the same town as us. with blonde hair. and a german accent. dressed as a complaining german woman. but it's him.

last update we were about to embark on a trip to umphang which is right by the burmese border. The 4.5 hour took us through dense green mountainous landscapes in the back of a truck. The truck has two benches that run allong the inside of the payload area and have a metal cage with a roof. We got on first and as e drove down the street and out on the highway, we would stop and pick locals up or drop them off. Sometimes there isn't enough room inside the songtaew-literaly translates to two rows- so they ride on top with the luggage, and their kids. but this is thailand, and that makes it safe.

after a very rural journey, we met up witha nice guy named victor who knew more english than anyone around and wanted to take us on a tour. we were more focussed on finding a good deal and just wanted to rent a motorbike for the next day. Victor graciously helped us with this errand. As there were no real places that rent scooters un umphang, he just rented it for us from the local crossdresser which he called a "ladyboy". Emily and I went up to the top o a peak on our trusty 100cc honda scooter then emily drove us down. then we travelled out to some caves which were cool too.
on our way back into town we met up with a couple from portland who were enterested in trekking, and they decided to stay where we were staying and come on the same tour.
let me tell you something I have figured out. I slightly more than emily, am a magnet for friendly , but totally WASTED dudes. they smile, they speak enough english to invite me over for a drink, then I realize that they are shaking my hand because they're too wasted to be around anyone other than some goofy forigner.

another thing: to try and make you understand how much these folks love their king is very hard. On mondays, because the king was born on a monday, they wear yellow shirts, with the royal emblem. There are pictures of this guy, at all ages- he just turned 80- everywhere. there are shrines with his full body image, there are calendars, there are framed pictures in almost every business, he's on bridges, welcoming you into towns, next to the pin-up girl in the local scooter garage. He's evrywhere. emily and I started saying "king me" when we saw him, but it actually grew old, even when we were on the bus to nan from mae sot. remember the flag waving after 9/11? it's like that, but more.
so we have walked in the woods, floated town the tamest river either of us have been on, seen the most enchanting waterfall ever, figured out the bus schedule, which can only be found on the wall of the bus station, ridden on said bus, and now we prepare to leave our beloved thailand for laos tomorrow am. probably won't be able to use the interweb for a week or so.

gavin