Day 1

First Law of Thai Driving: S/he who honks hir horn shall do no wrong.

After 21 hours of air time, 2 lengthy stop-overs, overnight in Bangkok airport and eight and a half hours on a bus, I arrived in my new home: Mae Sot, Thailand. Brooke, my new co-worker, picked me up at the bus-stop and took me out on our push-bikes to look around town a litte. I got a great 11 hours of sleep and found myself in a truck heading out to the refugee camp bright and early the day after my arrival in this country. Which is where I learned the Art of Thai Driving.

Masters of the Art have the ability to drive very fast in all conditions, including hairpin turns on windy mountain roads (which include about half of the drive Camp), while overtaking other vehicules including large trucks, while driving around hairpin turns WHILE overtaking large trucks, and when one feels so inspired. Bonus points are added if the driver squeals the tires while going around turns.

I notice Brooke closes her eyes and tries to sleep for the hour and a half drive.

It's beautiful countryside. My heart opens as we near town on the eight and a half hour drive from Bangkok to Mae Sot. Sometime about mountains and abundant greenery makes me happy. There are waterfalls and rice feilds. The drive through the mountain may be scary but it is exhilerating to be on the top of the world, staring down a cliff face close to the sky in the sunshine with a strong breeze whipping back your hair.

I'm exhausted. I never meant to write this long. I'm actually starving but since I haven't learnt any Thai or Burmese yet and Brooke and Patrick are both in Camp for the next few days, my fear of peanuts is holding me back from a gross pig out.

That's about to change.