Our safe arrival last night in Düsseldorf was accompanied by intense feelings of relief. Our last 40hrs in Bangkok proved stressful beyond belief. While we were aware that many countries in the Middle East, Iran included, deny visa requests and entry to individuals who have been to the occupied territories (the way Israel is referred to amongst those states who refuse to recognize its existence as legitimate), we did not know that Iran also denies transit to individuals who have been to the occupied territories (we flew the Tehran based Iranian airline Mahan Air). S and I have both been to Israel, but S, lucky her, was travelling on a passport that had not been. We debated everything from ripping out the page to glueing it to the adjacent page to sticking the baggage tickets over the prominent Ben Gurion visa stamps. We decided to nothing hoping that always showing the passport already opened to the picture page would deter the impulse to flip through the other pages. Plan B invovled S practicing phrases of Koranic Arabic that she would use to plead to the authorities in case of emergency. S was right to assume that the Farsi speaking Iranians would understand her basic Arabic, but we found this out by ordering vegetarian lunch at the cafe and not through an unpleasant confrontation with Iranian customs officials. The passport was checked twice and in both instances only the picture page was examined. The drama of the situation was highlighted by the lead story that headlined Iran´s english daily "Iran News" -- "Israel is Flag of Satan". It was a pleasure to read this story as the plane took off on its way to Düssedorf. It was interesting to note in Tehran´s Airport just how few interenational flights actually pass through the country daily. Only one (that we could see from the flight board) flies to Europe (the UK recently revoked Mahan´s license to fly its daily flights to Birmingham and Manchester on safety grounds). The country is isolated and it´s not helping that Condy Rice just took steps to have Iran Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization in order to further control the country.

Now that B is on the mend, I can get back to blogging about important things like food. I have to mention a couple of things we've eaten recently in case I forget. I just picked up a Thai and a Sichuan cookbook at the best English-language bookstore in Bangkok, but I'm pretty sure neither of these dishes will be in the cookbooks. My Thai favorites, som tam and tom yum, both are, but in the last couple days in Chiang Mai we ate a few unusual things that I don't know if we'll find again. One day we drove out to the national park just north of the city and ate in a bamboo hut by the reservoir there. We ordered as always the som tam (very very phet--hot papaya salad--soooo good!) and the tom yum (seafood hot and sour soup, phet as well of course) and the fried fish with garlic. Along comes a whole deep-fried fish topped with deep-fried strips of green matter (either Thai basil or kaffir lime leaves--for some reason we couldn't tell) and deep-fried pieces of garlic skin! Now, I eat about a head of garlic a day at home, and for all these years I've been tossing the garlic skin when I could have deep-fried it and had an absolute delicacy to enjoy!

Another day we ate in one of the noveau Thai restaurants which served some (reportedly) delicious mussels in a coconut and some lovely crab--these were of course eaten by my dining companions and not by me. In retaliation, I ordered the fried cashew salad which came with chilis, lime, salt, and green onions--the simplest idea ever, but absolutely the perfect thing to serve for a snack. Although we're cutting back on the spicy food for a day or two--the heartburn I had during my last session of speedwork on the treadmill was probably a sign that I should eat blander food instead of demanding everything maximally spicy at every meal. So today we had sticky rice with mango and coconut for a snack--BEST DESSERT EVER, every time.

Bangkok is supposedly one of the most exciting cities in the world, but we have reached the limit of our ability to take in newness, so today we are hanging out in malls.

No posts for a few days due to anxiety and illness. B's sickness took a turn for the worse early Saturday morning in Vientiane. His fever shot up (although we couldn't find a thermometer that worked, it was clearly high), he developed a very painful headache, and the muscle aches got even worse than they had been. Fortunately, we were scheduled to fly to Chiang Mai that afternoon, but the trip was supposed to start with a tuk-tuk to the bus station, followed by a three-hour or so trip on a non-A/C public bus to Udon Thani in Thailand, then a taxi transfer to the airport. B was clearly in no condition to sustain such a trip, so (leaving aside all thoughts of budgeting as our trip resources have dwindled into almost-nothingness) we hired a private car to take us. That was pretty much the only decision that made the trip bearable for B, because our driver took care of all the immigration formalities both on the Lao and Thai sides of the border while we sat in the car. Standing in the six or so (it seemed) different windows to enter and exit each country is not what you want to do while feverish and in unbearable pain.

When we arrived in Chiang Mai, we headed straight for the hospital across the street from AD's house. We were quickly checked in, saw the doctor (who said he couldn't be sure what was wrong), took a blood test, got the results in about 15 minutes (no malaria, but otherwise inconclusive), picked up drugs, and paid (total: $30). We were told to come back tomorrow for another test, and went home to put B to bed, only to discover that his upper body was now entirely covered by a delightful red rash. Pretty sure of the dengue diagnosis, we filled him up with drugs, and put him to bed. When we went back for our doctor's appointment the next day, however, the doctor decided that it was not dengue but an upper respiratory infection. How he decided that, given that he didn't even listen to B's lungs (and he hasn't been coughing or anything like that!!!) is still a mystery to us. But this time he listened to my impassioned pleas and gave us codeine. B has been on about six different painkillers and tranquillizers until this morning, but he seems to be getting better so we're reducing his dosage (after all, three of the meds are mildly addictive!).

In other words, B has been pretty much in a haze for the last few days, but he's getting better. We're staying with AD, and it's really nice not to be in a hotel for the first time in a couple of months. Her neighborhood is pretty Thai (unlike the extremely expat-heavy areas of Chiang Mai). Right across the street is the lady who makes the best som tam (spicy papaya salad) ever! AD had her leave the crab out (ew!) and add lots of chili (convincing locals you can handle it is always the hard part), I took it home in a plastic bag, and there was a feast.

Yesterday was a holiday in honor of the queen's 75th birthday. In her birthday speech, she called for the separation between religion and politics to continue to be honored here in Thailand: she does not think that Buddhism should be included in the constitution. On Monday morning, the headline in the paper was: "Activists discontinue campaign." In order to honor the queen's wishes, the activists who have been very passionately calling for Buddhism to be in the constitution have decided to end their campaign. We will see whether this affects the constitutional referendum to be held here next weekend (another Monday holiday!).

On Saturday evening, exhausted and emotionally drained, AD and I went out to get a snack after putting B to bed. (He, on huge doses of Valium and opiates, was knocked out!) Right around the corner from her place is one of the coolest restaurants I've ever seen. The entrance is across a small pond with assymetrically placed stepping stones. We sat in a swing in the outdoor area next to the white bunnies hopping around. (Sounds like I took some of his drugs too, but I didn't!) The service was absolutely amazing, and the food delicious. The restaurant is red-themed, filled with red and purple lampshades with the occasional modernist touches. It is interesting to note how much one appreciates good service once one has gotten used to it. It is almost impossible to get used to it in Europe, because outside wildly expensive restaurants, it pretty much does not exist. The whole culture of customer service that is so essential to the development of late capitalism is still primarily an American prerogative--except here (at this restaurant), I would put those waiters head to head against any I've encountered (even at, say, Babbo) in the US. Totally unobtrusive yet utterly attentive: when the waiter brought the mosquito coil to burn near us, I exclaimed approvingly to AD (not to him): two seconds later he was back with mosquito spray just in case I'd forgotten to put some on (which of course I had). Just an example. I can see both why the lifestyle here would be very delightful and very seductive in perhaps unfortunate ways.

Buddha Park (Leaning Buddha with Archer in foreground)

Buddha Park (Animals genuflecting to the Buddha)

Wat Sisaket Buddha Cloister

Wat Ho Phra Keo Dragon Detail

Sapa Trek on July 30

I finally have a chance to post! This one about Sapa on July 30. While S & B were on their 10 mile run on the nice paved read, aj. D decided to go for a trek down to the valley and back up to town and meet up with then two hours later. Rainy season, however, made all the tiny little offroads quite muddy. My first turn down the valley transformed my trek into a a delicate balancing act of sliding down the mud. I checked my watch, and realized I had already spent 30 minutes trying not to fall! Behind schedule already, I decided it was best to manouver through the narrow valley roads till I found someplace to climb back up the mountain to the city. At most, I thought I was 30 minutes behind schedule.

After about 20 minutes there was not another tourist in sight. Clearly, these roads were off the well-worn beaten path of other nice paths into villages you must pay a fee to enter. I passed several housing communities, just short of villages. Since adults and adolescents were out working in the fields, there were many, many young children about, being watched by their four year old siblings! It was quite interesting to watch; yet because there were no tourists, there was no place I could get a drink I so desperately needed! The cool waters from nearby streams held me over for a while.

By the time I got to a place where I could see Sapa town, I stumbled onto a little hut selling food and drinks. I interrupted about six men around a table having tea, and they gladly showed me a path back to town. Almost there! I thought.

On this path, there were only villages going to and from the road; no one tried to sell me anything, although I would have gladly bought a drink from them. The nicest little girl saw me struggling the mud, and found me a nice bamboo stick, and generously waited for me to made it up to the road.

I made it back, finally, but 2 and a half hours later. Poor S & B were so worried about me, poor things, sorry! But the dinner afterwards was totally amazing, and we were all in much better moods.

So AD and B think it was a big mistake to post about how we're feeling sick, but I thought we might as well include that info since we've been giving so many details anyway. I'm feeling much better today, but B's experience over the last week has been that the achiness gets better and worse, so I'm not holding my breath that it's over yet.

Yesterday we went to a couple of the important wats that are right around the corner from here. It was a bit hard at the second wat when the ibuprofen suddenly gave out, but after two restorative fruit shakes (watermelon and lime-mint) I felt better. We decided to try dinner at one of the riverside restaurants. It looked more like a bar, so we were worried about how good the food would be, but as usual, no need for concern. We ordered some steamed fish with a spicy lime sauce (excellent), sticky rice, and two salads, cucumber and papaya, very spicy. Well, the salads were spicy alright! Now, I can eat an entire habanero without crying, and even when B and I tone down the spice of food we cook for friends, it pushes the limits of many people's tolerance. But these salads had me in tears--just a little, but it was awesome. Since Russia, we've been on a hunt for truly spicy food that would challenge us a bit, and yesterday, we found it. Even more to my satisfaction was when the waiter came to clear away the table, and, amazed that we had finished both salads, he said (clearly complimenting us), "You eat spicy! Like Lao people!"

We're sick! It's hard to tell how sick--maybe just a little--but B has been having muscle aches for over a week and I've had them for two days. Worst-case scenario is dengue fever, but if so we have very mild cases--it just feels like there are little bugs burrowing into bones and muscles. We both are running slight fevers and have headaches, but nothing else--no rash, for instance, so dengue does seem fairly unlikely. We'll be in Thailand where there are good doctors on Saturday, so for now we're taking painkillers and trying to hold out. The really bad news in my mind is that Daddy says not to run until this is gone. What about my marathon? I'll just have to make it up in Norway on the beautiful trails in Marka.

Otherwise, Vientiane (Vin Chang, pronounced) is the most chilled-out capital city in the world, I'm quite certain. We're on a street right in the center, by the Mekong, and there is no traffic. Only a couple of streets seem to carry what could be described as traffic, and my guess is, they're mostly bringing in goods from Thailand which is only 25km away. Now's when we realize just what an effect the lack of infrastructure here has on the local population also: food, drinks, pretty much everything is just a bit cheaper in Vientiane than we've seen so far. Of course, people who live in Vientiane are less likely to be poor than people in very rural areas.

We had dinner last night in the absolutely friendliest restaurant I've ever visited, Fathima's. The proprietor made us feel like royalty, which was especially welcome after the horrible experience we had at the Lane Xang hotel when we arrived. We had called on Monday to reserve a room because the hotel had a fitness center, so we decided it was worth paying a bit more ($33) per night in order to have easy access to it. B had confirmed all of the details when he called, but when we arrived at the hotel--bone weary after a horrible bus ride from Vang Vieng that was supposed to take three hours but took four and a half, muscles/bones aching the whole way--they had no record whatsoever of our reservation.

At first, the manager was totally unhelpful. He must have asked us at least five times whether the person we had spoken with was male or female, when we called, and so on. He didn't seem to want to do anything to rectify the situation whatsoever. (My suspicion is that it was because we were carrying backpacks with raincovers. Backpackers are never popular in more "upscale" places, although the hotel didn't seem very upscale to us.) He kept saying that they would be happy to send us to another hotel (?!? our reservation was here), so finally I burst out crying and magically he decided to upgrade our room instead. The bellboy first took B to what was clearly the manager's own private love nest (mirrors in the ceiling etc) but as B was being shown the room, the manager changed his mind and decided to give us another room, less "upgraded", but that room was not ready yet. B decided to go look at the fitness center, the whole reason we were staying at that hotel: no treadmills. Yes, they advertise that they have a fitness center, but there are no treadmills. So, having waited at least 15 minutes for the second room to get ready, we up and left and checked into another hotel around the corner. This hotel is nothing special, but we have a TV which is nice while we writhe on our beds in discomfort. But it really took the wonderful proprietor of Fathima's to take away the sour taste that was left by the complete lack of professionalism at the Lane Xang hotel. (Now, it would have been another matter if I hadn't had to start crying for the manager to be willing to lift a finger about what was clearly laxity in his own staff's training. Imagine just not writing down a booking!)

I've forgotten to mention the amazing tropical storm that we saw in Vang Vieng. Lightning must have struck several hundred times (seriously)--it was like a strobe light lighting up the mountains. Lightning would flash maybe 6-8 times in a row, then we'd hear thunder as the rain and wind continued to intensify and intensify. It's hard to judge just how severe a storm it was for us non-tropics dwellers, but it was incredible to watch (from our private balcony, at $12/night).