Thailand Redux [not actually]

There have been a lot of places I've wanted to visit- and there are a significant number of them that I have made it to, but Thailand has not ever been on the list.

Not for want of trying...a long long time ago in another universe I traveled with a friend to Malaysia, with the intention of going up to Thailand as well. We never made it. Somewhere slightly west of Penang, we got stuck in Omar's opium den.

After many crazy bus rides in the dead of night and wanderings around a beachfront of the Dried Shrimp factory -dumbfounded by the stars and retching from the smell we suddenly found it was time to go back to West Australia.

Since then, everyone I know practically has been to Thailand  usually for one reason: to spend a lot of time at some beach resort drinking and playing as if they were with the jet set. [not that the people I met were actually jet setters-come to think of it, I'm not really sure I know what one of those are].

Don't get me wrong, I have no negative judgement about spending your holiday on the beach with a cocktail in hand, though personally for me, I'm in it for the experience of immersing myself [as much as a tourist can] in the culture and the habits and the food.

And my cocktail days are definitely over! [which is one reason that I gave up on my fantasy of going to Cuba- definitely a "stay up late-drinking-listening to music-dancing" sort of place. I'm usually in bed by 9 at the latest. So it would be a waste for me to go.] Still the fantasy of Fidel and Che and all that gorgeous seductive Latino everything haunts me to this day [not to mention knowing I would be stepping back into the early 60's since Cuba has had economic sanctions placed on it since then].

So it was interesting that I found myself booking a trip to Thailand...not for the beach, not for the cocktail- sort of for the culture, but mostly for my teeth. At this age, the teeth- which by the way do not last as long as other bones in the body- are deteriorating.

People tell you about the rigors of getting old- you know, arthritis, incontinence, dementia- but what no one talks about much are your teeth that slowly crumble away and crack into pieces. I like eating too much to condemn myself to a life of yogurt and porridge. So I heard about this Dental Clinic in Chaing Mai who are fabulous and ever so much cheaper than our dentistry here in Australia. I'd mention the difference, but you wouldn't believe it!

So..here I am-once again- packing my bags, getting the tickets, booking the rooms and headed for a new adventure, which will hopefully put to rest the deteriorating state of my teeth and give me a holiday in the meantime.

7 more sleeps to go! Stay tuned