Seoul 5

Well, we are at the airport waiting for our flight home. We've really had a wonderful time on this trip.

Here are a couple of more things we learned before I get to a summary of today:

People's ages are measured differently here. When a child is born, he/she is already one year old. They count the age including the time of prenatal development, so when an American child is one, a Korean child with the same birth date is two.

Now for the story I promised. We learned it at the Korean Folk Village. There was a scene in the prison which represented the story of a young, beautiful 16 year old girl named Miss Sung who lived in a northern village. She was of the lower class, but the son of an upper class family, Mr. Lee, fell in love with her. The goal of this upper class son was to pass an exam so that he could become a civil official. In order to do that, he had to travel to a southern city to take an exam. The young man and woman were promised to each other, and he begged her to wait for him (girls were married in their teens at that time). So he left and was gone a long time. The roads were bad, and they didn't have means to communicate.

In the meantime, the mayor of the town fell in love with the girl and did everything in his power to win her over and get her to marry him instead of Mr. Lee. Miss Sung refused his advances and so the mayor had her thrown in jail and sentenced to death (rather a severe reaction, I think). Just before the sentence was to be carried out, Mr. Lee returned. He had successfully passed the exam. In fact, he had done so well that he gained a higher rank than the mayor. The mayor was punished, Miss Sung and Mr. Lee were married and lived happily ever after. Hoorah!

As for today, Dad and I went to an interesting shopping area. They have a number of night markets that are opened from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. We didn't go to one of those because Park and our tour director, Sherrie Olson, recommended this one. We wandered around alittle and bought a few things. In thinking about it, I have concluded that the reason that the subway was so crowded on that night we came home from the temple was that one of those night markets was on that subway line.

Oh we learned why there was the discrepancy with our taxi bills. It turns out there are two classes of taxis - the black and the white. The white are the regular taxis and the black are special in some way. We asked the concierge about it, and she said that the black taxis have credit card machines, the drivers are supposed to speak English, and they are supposed to be somehow safer. They aren't supposed to cost more than twice as much, however, just 30%.

So, we need to go board our plane in a few minutes. It leaves here at 8:00p.m. on Friday and gets to JFK at 7:30 on Friday. That makes it a 13 1/2 hour flight. We'll call everyone when we land.

Seoul 4

We went to visit a Korean Folk Village this afternoon where the housing, customs, and lifestyles of Koreans who lived during the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910) are set out similar to places like Strawberry Village or Williamsburg. It was very interesting and enlightening especially since some people still live this way. We went on a group tour but, when we asked Park about it, she said that she remembers living in a village like that one near the DMZ when she was a young child.

When you enter, there is an area of totem poles which are to protect the village. There really are number of things that are similar between the American Indian culture and the Korean.
There were three classes - high, middle, and low. You can tell the class of the people by the kind of roofs their houses have. The high class have tile roofs, the middle have thatched roofs. The guide then asked what kind of roofs we though the low class you have. Answer: tile roofs because they were the servants or slaves of the high class - interesting.

We saw a Korean cow. They are not used for milk but, rather, for farming. Their meat is very superior to regular cow, in fact, it costs 3 times as much.

We saw an area where they were growing cabbage for kimchee. They make a huge batch of it at this time of year, keep it in vats below the ground or in special kimchee refrigerators, and eat all year long. It is a staple here. The guide asked how many people in our group liked it. I was one of a few who raised their hands. She said that she divides foreigners into those who like kimchee and those who don't. There are 200 varieties of kimchee. I've tried a couple - one was mild and one was very spicy. Dad does not like it. He ate some of the spicy last night, and it took a while into the meal before he could taste again - that might have been a blessing for him. They have three basic sauces that are necessary in all of their cooking: red pepper paste, soybean sauce and say sauce. The more vats of it that you have outside your home, the richer you are.

We saw their toilet. It was like an outhouse, but they had baskets there to carry the waste out to the fields to use for fertilizer. It was valuable to them. They also hung funeral announcements in the bathroom as they were bad news and didn't want them in the house (I don't know if having Sports Illustrated in the bathroom is the same thing!).

I tried some rice candy which was quite good. We're bringing some back.

They have the most fascinating heating system. I can't remember if I described it in another post, so I may be repeating myself (how unusual). The build the floors of the home up on blocks so that their is space underneath where their are air passages from the cooking fires that bring the heat under the rooms. It really is ingenious. They, of course, remove their shoes before entering a room, but their feet are warm because of the heating system. During the hot months, they don't use they have the air space to help cool the floors.

We saw how they would do their ironing. They would spread the fabric out on a rock and pound it. We also saw a straw rain coat which is, apparently, very effective. I think Dad got a picture.

We saw a performance of a Farmers' Music Band which is made up of drums and gongs. The dancers (all male) wore the most amazing hats with antenna like tops that had streamers attached. They would move their heads so as to make the streamers fly. Dad took some video that we will post when we get home - amazing!

Filial piety - a very important principle for the Koreans. It means serving and respecting parents. It is so important that if someone showed special merit in the area, the government would build a building in the village to commemorate it, and it was a mark of great pride for the people.

The village was very, very interesting. I'm so glad we went.

Last night, we had our farewell dinner at a beautiful restaurant where they served foods that the royal family would eat. I tried most things - everything but some of the meats including raw crab (which Koreans think is quite a delicacy. We arranged for Park to take it home). Dad did pretty well, but alot of the foods were very strange. I, unfortunately, paid the price when we got home. Oh well.

Some interesting items we learned from Park:

Apartments are rented in a very different manner. The renter has to pay the owner 60% of the worth of the house/apartment up front. They keep the money for 2 years and then return it, having made whatever they can on it. You have to be careful that you would be in the front of the line of creditors so that you don't lose your money. They borrow the money to make the payment, but it takes about 10 years for someone to get into the position to rent, so they "sponge off" their parents until that time. If you want to move, you have to find someone to take over your place so you don't lose your money.

I asked how they kept their shoes warm in the winter. They have shoe boxes outside for this purpose. They even have large banks of them in apartment houses.

In the past, women weren't supposed to show their teeth. They would cover their mouths when they smiled. On their wedding day, they weren't supposed to smile as it was sad that they were "uprooting" from their family and transferring to their husband's family.

Women also aren't/weren't supposed to show their barefeet. They had to cover them either with socks, long skirts or pants, or sit on them in such a way that they couldn't been seen.

I have a folk tale that I need to share, but I'm out of time. I'll write it later.

Seoul 3

I spent yesterday morning catching the blog up - this is a career in itself!

In the afternoon, I went with two other women to see the Seoul Tower which overlooks this huge city. I asked the concierge how much a taxi would cost and he said 25,000 won. It actually cost 28,000. The interesting thing is that the taxi we hailed ourselves to bring us back cost 12,500 won. Hmmm. Some collusion do you think? It happened to some other people in our group when they left from the hotel to go to dinner and then came back. Lesson--don't get a taxi from here. Walk a couple of blocks or so for a better deal!

Anyway, we went up the tower where we had a traditional Korean lunch - some good and some not so good. I think we could say that about any food. We walked around the tower. It was beautiful although the pollution here is terrible and the city was pretty much veiled. On each of the windows of the large circle, they have written the distance to cities/countries around the world that lie in that direction. It is fall here, and the leaves are changing and beautiful. I tried to get some pictures. I'm glad we're getting to see fall here because I'm afraid the leaves will have peaked in New Jersey by the time we get back.

Dad has been enjoying his meetings. Yesterday, he was in a meeting about the impact of the closing of inner-city hospitals on the community. He made a comment, and the woman next to him, who was Korean, said that she lived in New Jersey and had worked in Pascack, which has closed (she's about to start another job). You are never safe.

Last night, we went to the Seoul Temple. We had quite an adventure getting there. We had asked the concierge to call and get us directions from the subway. We probably should have talked to the temple ourselves because the tour director, who is LDS, did it that way and had a much easier time finding the temple. We, actually, should have coordinated and just gone with her---but then we wouldn't have had this interesting experience.

When we came out of the subway, we were confused about which way to go. The temple is off a side street in a very busy part of the city. It's more hectic than Manhattan. Anyway, Dad asked a couple of young Korean men directions to a department store that was supposed to be our landmark. We got there and still couldn't figure out what to do. We went back and found the same young men and gave them the address. I, then, gave them the phone number. One of the pulled out his cell and called the temple (our cell doesn't work inside Korea). He talked animatedly and started to lead us on quite a circular walk. He called the temple and had an "ah ha" moment and said, "I know where that is now!" They led us all the way there! They spent at last 20 minutes helping this poor old American couple. They were so gracious and kind. It was terrific.

We had a wonderful time at the temple. Besides us, there were Koreans, of course, and Russians - one man and four women. Dad talked to one of the women after and learned that she and her husband had been married civilly four days ago and had been sealed the day before. The other three women had just received their endowments the day before!

We took the subway back. It was 10:00 p.m., and the subway was packed. I can't get over how many people live here and how busy it is. You'd think that wouldn't be so surprising to someone used to New York, but, honestly, this is overwhelming!

Seoul 2

So, this day started with my going with Dad to the opening ceremonies for the International Hospital Convention. I was concerned that there wouldn't be any real opening festivities after listening to many, many congratulatory speeches from various dignitaries, but then my patience was rewarded with a terrific drum show. There were four young women and one young men who were really going to town on some wall mounted drums and then some regular drums. It was incredible - the energy. I can't describe it - you should have been here.

That afternoon, we went as a group to tour the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone, between North and South Korea. It was established after World War II when Korea was liberated from Japan. I943, the Cairo Convention liberated Korea, and then in 1945, when Japan surrendered, the Russians took their surrender above the 38th parallel and the US below the 38th parallel. Korea was happy to be liberated from Japan, but they opposed the idea of a UN trusteeship. The Korean problem was one of the first brought before the newly created United Nations. North Korea refused to cooperate with the idea of a trusteeship. Russia was working hard to implant their ideology there. In 1948, South Korea elected their president and North Korea had their own dictator.

The DMZ is a four kilometer area which divides the two countries. It consists of 2 kilometers above the demarcation line and 2 kilometers below it. It occupies 1% of the land mass of the country. More than 1 million land mines were planted there. They have been working to remove them, but there are still more than 600,000. As you drive along the road, there are signs indicating that the area that is paved is safe, but outside it is not. We stayed on the pavement.

4:00 a.m. on Sunday 25, 1950, North Korea, with the backing of the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea which percipitated the Korean War. The UN asked for help and the US responded along with five other nations. There is a statue honoring President Truman for his support. General McArthur led our troups. More than 2 million Koreans died during the war. At a memorial honoring the Americans who served and died between 1950 and 1953, it said that the US suffered 142,091 losses: 33,629 deaths, 103,284 wounded, and 5,178 missing. The ceasefire was signed in 1953.

In 1975, a defector told the South Koreans that the North Korean army was building inflitration tunnels beneath the demilitarized zone. The North apparently stopped digging when they learned of his defection, but started again in 1978. Because of pressure that was created during the digging, they found what they call the Third Infiltration Tunnel (they have found 3 others and think there are perhaps as many as 20). The third is the largest they have found. It started in Gaeseong City and is 1.7 kilometers long. It took 10 years to build and is big enough for fully equipped soldiers to make their way through. When the North Koreans realized they had been discovered, they tried to claim that it was really a copper mine (there is no copper in the area) and that the South had dug it. We walked down in it for quite a ways. The decline is 11% - walking back up was more difficult. It was quite an experience. I concentrated on keeping myself calm so I wouldn't be claustrophobic.

At this site, there is also a monument honoring 18 South Korean diplomats and soldiers who were killed at Rangoon in Burma by a North Korean terrorist. There is also an Altar for Longing for Home where South Korean families come to make offerings for their family members in North Korea whom they think may be dead.

There is a real movement toward unication of the two countries. Our guide explained to us the other day that much of the impetus behind it is a desire for greater security and power. If the two countries were united they would have much more power in relation to both China and Japan. In a recent survey, though, 60% of college students don't think it should happen.

Other things that I hope I have gotten right. We saw tank traps set up along the road which connects the two countries. They are large concrete slabs above the road that can be blown up to block the road way. There are 8 or 9 of them. In 1989, a man named Huyandai, I think, went to North Korea across the Unification Bridge with 1,001 cows. When he had fled the north, he had taken the money from selling his father's northern cow and used it to start a small rice shop. He had been very successful and in 1989 he decided to return the cow with interest - 1000 cow interest.

We boarded buses which took us into the DMZ and to the tunnel. We had to show our passports to the military guard. We drove across the Unification Bridge into the Civilian Restricted Area. There is a Freedom Villagethere where 500 people live. We went to an observation tower whic is on a hill which is 155 meters high to look over the area. The North has a village which the South calls the Propaganda Village which is directly across from the Freedom Village. Noone lives there (they send up smoke in the morning to make it look inhabited), it is just to counter the South's village. They have set up a free enterprise zone in Gaeseong City where the South Koreans work through which trade happens. Park wasn't too happy about the South Korean money which is being spent in the North.

We also saw Dorasan Station, a train station that has been built with the plan that it will be part of connecting the South and the North and creating a railroad to Manchuria and beyond. People have bought railroad ties to contribute to the construction. It is a very modern station which is now the northern end of the line but with the hope that it will be the southern point in the future. Park's take is that the North has been too concerned about their nuclear issue to have worked very intently on this rail line, although it does go north.

So... I think that is it. I need Dad to read this and help check for accuracy. There won't be any pictures of this area because it is restricted and no pictures are allowed (actually I asked him to take a picture of a fascinating sculpture than depicts the effort for unification. We forgot about the no picture policy, and noone stopped him. I hope we'll be able to get out of the country).

The bus ride back was long mostly because Seoul is huge - 10 million people - and the traffic was awful.

Seoul

We arrived at our hotel in Seoul after the group who had come ahead had left for the tour. We called them, and they came back to get us - giving us 20 minutes to shower and get ready.





The first place we went was to the royal palace, Gyeongbok Palace. There is no longer a ruling royal family here. The last monarch was from the Lee family. It doed out in a rather tragic manner having to do with the Japanese occupation, marriage of the prince to a Japanese woman, marriage of a son to an American and their not having any children - very complicated and sad. The palace, whose name means the Palace of Shining Happiness was actually rebuilt as it would have been in 1392. It had been totally destroyed by fire as a result of a Japanese invasion. At the time it was functioning, 4000-5000 people lived there. Besides the royal family, there would be 150 eunuchs, 500-600 ladies in waiting, and then soldiers, etc.

There are a number of buildings - the public ones being in the front and the private in the back. There was a large throne room with a very large plaza in front where the people could gather. When there was a public event, the royal family would use the center of the plaza, the military would be arranged according to rank on the right and civil officials would be on the left. The platform directly in front of the throne room is built out of uneven stones in order to protect the king from falling. How would that help, you may ask. Well, the thinking was it would make the king be more careful in his walking (not run, etc.) so he wouldn't fall....interesting reasoning.
There was a fish net screen in front of the throne area to keep the people from actually seeing the king. You had to have permission to look at his face. Our guide, Park, explained that attitude of not being permitted to look people, especially older or people of a higher rank, in the eyes has impacted the Asian perception of and by the world. While westerners expect to be looked in the eyes, the is a very hard thing to do, and, therefore, they are perceived to shify-eyed.

There was a mural behind the king representing the five elements: sun and moon, water, fire, earth, and metal. It represented long life and alway went with the king wherever he was. People always stood in a kowtowing position - bowing before the king.

Only ladies in waiting and eunuchs were allowed in the private quarters. In their society, eunuchs were those who had been born with that birth defect, they weren't castrated. The royal eunuch was treated as the mediators between the inner people (the queen and ladies in waiting) and the outer people (men and the king). Eunuchs were very powerful and had to pass rigorous examinations. The king's eunuch had to be able to run very fast, carring the king on his back, in order to get the king to safety. He was also hung upside down and tortured in order to assure that he could withstand torture.

Ladies in waiting were chosen from the people and were then required to stay in the palace for life unless the king/queen died and then they were released. They were also required to stay virgins unless the king chose them to be concubines. If a concubine had a child, the child was considered part of the royal family. If the queen died, a concubine could take her place.

Off-spring were very important - especially male, of course. Consequently, while the other buildings in the royal complex had a wooden bar at the roof, that was not the case on the king's and queen's bedroom buildings. They didn't want any obstacle to be placed to keep them from having a boy baby.

We asked about the prevalence of dragons in their architecture and were told that they command all the water creatures.

Both the king and queen had many bedrooms and rotated where they were in order to try to stay safe.

The palace was last lived in in 1895. The queen was assassinated in that year by the Japanese. She had a Japanese maid who was forced to betray her. She was stabbed and then they burned her body. The king abandoned the palace because he was too painful of a place for him to be.
Other miscellaneous stuff learned at that time:

Koreans have strong jaws because the food they used to eat more often was very hard to chew - grains and meat - that trait seems to be disappearing. They also have high cheek bones and double folds in their eyelids.

95 % of Koreans have health insurance, but it doesn't pay for procedures such as MRI's. They have a mixture of public and private insurances. The rate they pay is calculated using some kind of formula that includes their profession, where they live, and land they own, etc. The life expectancy for men is 78, for women, it is 84. They have 1.7 children per family (I always worry about fractional children). That has been a big change when it used to be 5 children per family. So, the current and future work force won't be able to support the retirees.

They have alot of stomach cancer here because of the salty and spicy food they eat. Cars are cheap but gas is very expensive - $7-$8 per gallon! They have to import all of it.

The Korean alphabet consists of 10 vowels and 14 consonants. It was developed in 1443. Before that, they used the Chinese alphabet.

They don't have the issue of only wanting boys. It was an issue up to the 1970s or 80s, but not so now. Men still have an advantage mostly because they are the ones who serve in the military and doing that earns merits which impact employability.

We stopped to see their White House which is called the Blue House. There is going to be a presidential election in December. The president serves one 5 year term. They are trying to change that so there can be more terms. Their will be a congressional election next year, and they can serve multiple 4 year terms. We also so the guest house where receptions, etc. are held.

We then went to the Jogyesa Temple which is the center for Zen Buddhism in Korea. It was very interesting to learn more about another Budddhist Sect. They had a swastika as a decoration on their buildings. It is the syn symbol which represents purification. It reminded me of when I went to Mills, Jewish Grandma Mollia gave me an American Indian rug for my floor. When I unrolled it, it had a swastika on it. It was shocked but learned that it is an ancient Indian symbol. The Nazis took a beautiful and meaningful symbol, turned it backwards (literally), and perverted it so that the associations we have with it are negative. I guess they thought it was the way to represent their "pure" race.

We then had a traditional Korean lunch. I enjoyed it, and Dad ate as much as he could - it really was spicy. We walked around a narrow shopping district callled Insa-dong. There wer things we probably should have bought but didn't, t hinking we'd get back there, but it is pretty far away. We'll see.

We came back, exhausted, took a nap and then went to dinner with the group. We had American food - it was well received.

Airports

We left our hotel in Chiang Mai at 5:00 a.m. on November 4th and arrived at our hotel in Seoul at 9:00 the next morning. No...we didn't take the long way around the world, we just spent alot of time in airports.

Our flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was delayed because of mechanical problems which meant we were going to miss our connection to Seoul via Hong Kong. They said that there wasn't a flight from Chiang Mai to Seoul until 11:30 p.m. or so. That wouldn't have been so bad because there are many more things to see in Chiang Mai, but they wouldn't let us out of the airport because we had already been through customs. We were there a few hours and then flew to Bangkok at 2:30 p.m. where we had to wait until 11:50 in the Business Class lounge, which was very nice, by the way. The Thai airlines people were very nice - very concerned about us.

One wonderful byproduct of this adventure was that we got to know our traveling companions better. I'm thankful for that. They are interesting and good people.

Our flight to Seoul was pretty good. Our seats were broken and so they reclined all the way. Noone was behind us, so we actually slept!

Chiang Mai 2

I've just read this over. It is ridiculously long. I don't really expect anyone to read it. It's just my journal so I can remember. There will be pictures when we get to Korea. I know that is the best part. Sorry for all of this...

I'm writing this post on a computer in the Chiang Mai airport. We were supposed to leave this morning at 7:40 for Seoul, connecting in Bangkok and making a stop in Hong Kong. However....there were plane problems, and we aren't leaving here until 4:30 for Bangkok. We then take a flight from there which arrives at 5:something in the morning. It wouldn't be so bad because there are many more things to see in Chiang Mai, but they won't let us out of the airport because we have already gone through immigration. Oh well...we are now in a lounge that has computers, so I figured I might as well let you know what we have been doing.

We had another very interesting day yesterday. We boarded the bus in the rain to go to the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara in the mountains above Chiang Mai. It rained and rained all day, so we were pretty soggy, but we had a great time anyway.

On our way, our guide, once again, told us all kinds of interesting things - this time in preparation for our visit to the temple. Wat means temple in Thai. There are 30,200 Buddhist temples in Thailand, 200 of which are classified as Royal 1st Class. They are maintained by the government. The others are maintained by local contributions - some better than others. There are 1,242 temples i Chiang Mai. They house 600 professional monks and 1.000 temporary ones. The monks where yellow or saphron colored robes. This orange color is the color of peace. 95 % of the people in Thailand are Buddhist. According to Pan, many or the people go to the temple but don't really follow more than the basic teachings of Lord Buddha.

When a man decides to becoe a onth, whether for a short or long time, he must follow a very strict routine: 5:00 - wake up; 5:30 - go out to collect food, carrying alms bowls. They are not begging - people voluntarily contribute the food. Women are not allowed to touch the monks or even touch the bowl. They have to drop the food in without touching it. Men are allowed to touch the bowl and touch the monks. 7:30-7:45 - the monks return to the temple. 8:00 - the monks have breakfast, the younger monks who went out share with the elder monks who stayed in the temple; 9:00 - the monks all walk into the assembly hall for the first ceremony of the day. It is in Pali and Sanskrit. 9:30 - the young monks go to the temple school where they are taught religious and secular subjects. 11:00-11:30 - the young monks return to the school to the cantine for the 2nd meal of the day. 1:00 - more school. 4:30 - back to the temple where they clean the temple and polish the Buddha. 5:00-5:30 - monks return to the shelter where they receive visits from their families. They shower and change. 7:00 - go to the assembly hall for the last sermon of the day. 8:00 - have discussios with the senior monks about meditation, etc. 9:00 - practice meditation. 10:00 - bed.

In the former days, all Thai boys before they married or entered the national service served as monks in the temple for 3 months. Many families would send their boys to be novices because they are very poor and can't afford to pay for schooling for all of their children. The temple provides the education and housing for the boys and the families pay to send their girls to school. Monks shave their heads once a month including their eyebrows. Now, many boys do not want to be monks. Many are Buddhist in name only.

The question was asked how a monk becomes a high priest. Formerly, he would have had to have been a monk for a long time, be well respected. Currently, they need to know how to use computers, have a bachelors or masters degree, have written books, etc. and be chosen by a committee.

The Wat we visited was at the top of a mountain outside Chiang Mai. It was built in 1383 for the holding of some of the bone pieces of the Lord Buddha. In 1371, the king of Chiang Mai who was very relitious heard of a monk who claimed to have some of the bones of Lord Buddha. He invited the monk to Chiang Mai where he determined that the bone was real. The king decided to buld a temple in his garden for the Buddha bone. He put some there and put the rest in a golden urn and wanted to find somewhere special to build a temple where he would put the rest. In 1383, the high priest came and saw the king's white elephant. He told the king to let the elephant go and wherever it stopped would be where the temple should be built. The elephant wandered for 3 days. It kept moving up the mountain. It stopped temporarily at a cliff, and the king thought that was the place, but then it moved on. Finally, after the elephant died after being in one spot for seven days, the king decided that was the place. He dug a whole 4 meters deepa nd buried the Lord Buddha bone. He asked for volunteers to stay there, but no monks would because it was in a very remote and dangerous part of the jungle, so they would take a pilgrimage up the mountain once a year for a special religious day in May when Lord Buddha died. They continue to make this pilgrimage today once a year - by foot. Last year there were more than 180,000 people who made the trek.

It took from 1383 to 1386 to build the temple. In 1538, the king donated 6,000 bhat in cash and 1700 baht in gold to rebuild the temple. The umbrella on top of the Buddha statue is made of pure gold - there is very strong security. In 1557, a monk volunteered to stay at the temple. He built a staircase of 173 steps up to the temple. The stairs were each one meter high. In 1935, more intermediate steps were added, making 306 steps in all. There is a statue to a famous high priest at the bottom of the road to the temple. He is revered because he decided in 1935 to build a road up the mountain to the temple. The local people provided the labor. So many came to help that it took 4 months and 22 days to complete. In 1965,the local government decided to expant the road because the king has a winter palace at the top.

So, we finally got to the temple. It was magnificent - so much gold, so many statue of Buddha in different poses. The most common are walking Buddha, meditating Buddha, and protecting Buddha. You can tell the Buddha statues from those of his disciples because Buddha has curly hair (!) and the others are bald. It was raining like crazy but we got some pictures that we'll try to post later - if and when we make it to Korea.

More tidbits - the king of Thailand was born in Massachusetts. He is the first king to have only one wife. He has one son and three daughters. It is almost as if the king is worshipped. His picture is everywhere. He is very highly regarded, his son who will succeed him, not so much.

There are many varieties of Buddhism. I think it somewhat like the term Christian - many different sects. The Thai variety is a very real combination of Hinduism and Buddhism. Lord Buddha was born into a Hindu family and his disciples were converts from Hinduism. There are statues of Hindu gods along side the Buddhas in the temples. The inhabitants of Thailand worshipped all kinds of the nature spirits anciently, and so that is also included in their religion. There are spirit houses and shrines all over.

There are not very many nuns - less than 20,000 in Thailand. Most enter because of economic reasons. They are all dressed in white. They have to follow 341 precepts.

Our guide is not very religious but he believes in trying to follow these basic Buddhist principles: do what is good, avoid evil, and purify yourself - then you will be happy. Sounds pretty good.

We asked the purpose of the dragon stair case - it is to protect the temple. When Lord Buddha was enlightened, there was a great storm. A serpent came to protect him for the elements. His head split into seven to offer more protection.

When we came down from the temple, we drove through the city of Chiang Mai. We saw the parts of the old wall. The Ping River flows through the center. Once a year in the dry season when the river runs clear (April), they celebrate the Thai New Year. People line the sides and scoop water and throw it on each other. This last for 3 days in the city and longer in the countryside.

In mid-November, there is another celebraton. Everywhere is decorated with banan trees. Everyonce maks floating lanterns, decorated with incense. After they pray at the temple, the light candles, and then float the lanterns down the river. The lanterns are individual and small on the first day and then very large on the next. They also fly hotair balloons. It sounds wonderful.

Transportation is still not that great here. It takes 14 hours to go by the rapid or express train to Bangkok which is 700 kilometers away. The ordinary train takes 17 hours and there are only wooden seats. The bus takes 9 hours.

Chiang Mai is a center of handicraft. It is famous for silk, silver, umbrellas, teak, jade, etc. We first went to a jade factory where we learned about the different kinds of jade. We then went to a silk factory where we saw the silk worms in action. They weave their cocoons. The cocoons are then boiled with the worm inside (the worm dies) and the thread is pulled up. Somehow when it is pulled up, other threads stick it forming a larger thread that can be used. 1,200 meteres of silk can come from one cocoon. We saw some absolutely beautiful silk. We went to a silver factory and saw people working the silver by hand and then visited an umbrella factory. The process for making the umbrellas is painstaking and fascinating. The people work hard and don't make much. Umbrellas have great significance. 9 layers are for the king, 7 for the queen, 6 for the crowned prince, 5 for religious leaders, 1 for regular people.

There is more to write, but Dad has had it with me - I don't know why.

We went for another traditional, very spicy Thai dinner. We saw some traditional dancers - the Thai women are so very beautiful and graceful.

Hopefully, we will get to Korea by morning. I'll have more to write - that I'm pretty sure noone will read - but the pictures will be good.

Chiang Mai

Yesterday was a travel day. We flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We have just a few things of interest to report that we learned from our new guide on our way to the hotel from the airport.

Chiang Mai is a very old city. It was established in 1296. The Burmese destgroyed it in 1555 and took the people as slaves. It was under Burmese rule for 216 years and was liberated in 1777. It took 26 years to pus the Burmese out. It was one of the six capitol cities of Siam and is known as the land of the roses because of its hospitality. 1.8 million people live here, 95% of whom are Buddhist. There are 1,242 Buddhist temples.

We passed some rice paddies and learned that you can't tell what kind of rice is growing there from just looking. You have to feel the top. If it is short and fat then it is sticky rice. If it is long grained then it is white rice.

Last night, we had another Thai dinner. We sat on the floor around round tables. Pan, our guide, told us this kind of dining table is called Kun Dak. He also explained that in this part of Thailand, they use chili paste every day, all day. We found that to be true. Nearly every part of the meal was very spicy. Dad, again, was a very good sport. It kept us from eating too much.

Okay...now for today, November 2nd. We went to The Elephant Training Center in Chiang Dao where we saw an elephant show, rode on an elephant, and went on a bamboo raft ride down the Ping River. Before getting to that, though, there are some things that we're sure you've always wanted to know about elephants. The elephants in Thailand are of the Indian variety. They are the ones with the smaller ears. Their are three sexes - male, female, and inbetween. The inbetween are male elephants that don't have tusks. There are about 1500 white elephants in the jungles. They are constantly in danger because of poachers who come from the city. They pay the local villagers to kill them. They use guns or cross bows with poison arrows. The elephant tusks cost more than an elephant.

Thailand is a land of superstition. Many people believe that having elephant tusk or bone will protect them from evil spirits.

When a male elephant is interested in a female, he woos her by singing to her and giving her leaves and other things to eat. An elphant pregancy lasts 22-24 months (I know I said something alittle different the other day--but that was from information from another guide). Anyway, after she has been pregnant for a year, the female elephant looks for another female to accompany her the remaining months and serve as her midwife. During the delivery, the midwife stand behind the mother and helps her. When the baby is born, the midwife pushes the mother out of the way so that she doesn't accidentally step on the baby. She catches the baby which weighs about 90-100 kilos, cleans her up and calls the mother back so she can nurse the baby. The midwife continues to help take care of the baby which is nursed for about 1 1/2 years.

In an elephant camp, the baby is taken from the mother when he is 2 1/2 years old to begin it training. It is a very traumatic time. The baby elephant then enters primary school where it learns basic skills. From 6-10 years old, the baby elephant goes to secondary school where they learn more advanced skills having to do with logging. Between 11-16 years of age, the elephants learn to work in teams and work 4-6 hours a day in the cooler parts of the day. The prime years of an elephant's working life are between 17-38 when they work 8-10 hours a day. Between 39 and 50, the elephant's power gradually decreases and they work between 6 and 8 ours a day. Between 51 and 60 years of age, the elephants become more and more tired and often have health problems. At 60, they retire and get a pension. Their life expectancy is about 75. An elephant weighs an average of 4 1/2 tons. He sleeps 4 hours a day and spends most the the rest of the day eating. He needs 240 kilos of food and 180-200 liters of water a day. He also produces 100 kilos of dung a day which they use for fertilizer and process to make paper. When elephants sleep, they post a guard to protect them from poachers, etc.

There are many snakes here - poisonous and nonpoisonous. Our guide told us that if you approach a snake and it slithers away, it isn't poisonous. If, however, it stops and looks back at you, it is. Lord Buddha taught that you shouldn't kill animals, but the figure that it is between you and the snake, it's okay to kill it. It is also okay to kill for food - just not for sport.

Okay, now for what we actually did...The elephant training camp was spectacular. First, we fed some of the elephants sugar cane. We then watched them bathe in the river. We then watched a show. It began with a baby elephant raising a flag on a flag pole to open the festivities. We then watched them pull, push and lift logs to arrange them in a pile. They picked up trash and put it in a basket. They, actually, picked up anything their mahouts (trainers) asked them to including putting the trainers' hats on their heads. It ended with an elephant painting a picture that would have fit in perfectly in the Museum of Modern Art. Oh--we learned that an elephants height is the same as two times around it's foot.

We then went on an hour's ride on an elephant through the jungle and back up the river. We sat on a wooden seat that was strapped to the elephant's back and secured with a bamboo loop around it's tail. We even had a seat belt - which we needed. We ride was very unsteady. In places, it could rival anything at Six Flags. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the experience was terrific!

Afterward, we went on a bamboo raft ride down the Ping River for an hour. It was so peaceful.

We stopped for lunch where we sang "Happy Birthday" to one of our group. That prompted our guide to tell us how birthdays are celebrated traditionally in Thailand. If you were a Thai, the day before your birthday you would go to the market and put together a basketful of items - fruits and other gifts. On your birthday, you would take the basket to the nearest temple and present it to the chielf monk. You would tell him you had brought it because it is your birthday. You would sit on the floor before him, making sure you were lower than he is. You would then prostrate yourself on the floor 3 times, and the monk would dip a reed in holy water and bless you.

He also told us how Thais do not end meals as we do with dessert. They drink water at the end of their meal. They eat lots of rice and vegetables and only have meat on special occasions. The sticky rice is very good for those who do hard labor.

Back to the elephant...an elephant with a big tusk can list up to one ton (we saw one roll a long up on his tusks and lift it). If it is more than one ton, it takes 2 elephants working together. For every 5 days that an elephant works, he needs 2 days of rest. I asked if the mahouts are always male. He said yes, emphatically. He then said that while the mahout is gone, usually for months at a time, his wife has to live by very strict ruled. She cannot wear make up or dress up nicely; she cannot chat with strangers; she in not allowed to stay on the balcony after dinner. If she does, they believe that it will bring bad luck to her husband.

Other interesting trivia---a banana tree symbolizes easy. They plant that in front of their houses if they want an easy life. Jack fruit represents power. You will often see banana trees and jack fruit trees planted in front of homes.

We learned alittle about the Golden Triangle which isn't very far from here. It is the border where Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Thailand meet. For many years, it was the case. The Thai government has worked very hard to replace opium as the cash crop. It has been difficult because all of the hill people, according to our guide, use drugs for all kind of different reasons. When they become addicted to opium they use 80 pipes a day. They neglect their children and aren't able to do anything. The government set up schools to try to stop the cycle. They have been quite successful, although it is still a problem in some remote areas.

Okay--our last stop was a wonderful orchid farm. There are 25,000 species of orchid and 10,000 of them are found in Thailand. They do not grow in soil but are attached to trees are are hung in baskets. They need to be sprayed with water twice a day and fertilized once a week. It takes 2 1/2 years before they bloom for the first time, and they live for 35 years. The farm was amazing - the flowers were absolutely gorgeous.

We took a break from Thai food tonight.

Well, I really rambled on today. I'm sure you are more than thrilled with all of the tidbits of information.