The bridge on the river Kwai

"The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre."

Snapshots of Bangkok

It's been over a week since my arrival. I had two days of rest before starting to work and getting over the jetlag. My first aim was to visit the famous Wat Phra Keow, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most beautiful and sacred temples of Thailand, situated near the royal palace. 


A boat trip on the Chao Phraya, the main river, took me to the smaller klongs (canals), to discover the older parts of Bangkok. However, nowadays more and more high-rise buildings are being constructed along the river banks. Only the very rich can afford to buy such condominiums.

A city of many contrasts, between the shrines and the old wooden houses - small quiet islands in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city - the old tightly packed concrete buildings of the mid-20th century and the new towers and air train, like all capital cities of the world, Bangkok is a fast expanding, smog affected "ant-hill". Well, to me, living in a small European city with a lot of old buildings and no sky-scrapper at all, it is rather impressive to see all these humongous towers.


The conference and our offices are located on the 22nd floor, which is of the size of a very big football

field. And we are literally freezing! A few of my colleagues are on antibiotics because of infected throats and bronchitis, can you imagine! We are not used to air conditioning. The temperature outside is around 90 F and very humid. It is a shock every time we step out of the building. We are wearing scarves and sweaters to avoid getting sick, how silly! And we strip as soon as we leave the building and walk back to the hotel. (To be continued)

What am I forgetting?

Time to leave!


What am I forgetting?


Passport - ok
Money - ok
Credit card - ok
Cell phone - ok
Lap top - ok
Tooth brush, etc - ok
Condoms (you never know...) - ok
Dildo... no, I'm a do-it-yourself kind of girl
Malaria prophylaxis - ok
Anti moskito spray - ok
Guide books - ok
Clothes - ok
Shoes - ok
Camera - ok
.....
......
My head,  where is my head?  OMG! (just kidding!)

Butterly click

Picture by Kassandra www.photosight.ru

Taking a moment just imagining that i'm dancing with you

I'm your pole and all you're wearing is your shoes
You've got soul, you know what to do to turn me on until I write a song about you
And you have your own engaging style, you've got the knack to vivify
And you make my slacks a little tight, you may unfasten them if you like
That's if you crash and spend the night

But you don't bode, you don't pay, you got everything you need
Except for me, sister you've got it all
You make the call to make my day
In your message say my name
Your talk is all the talk, sister you've got it all

Curl your upper lip up and let me look around
Ride your tongue along your bottom lip and bite down
And bend your back and ask your hips if I can touch
Well they're the perfect jumping up point
Getting closer to your butterfly

You float on by
Oh kiss me with your eyelashes tonight
Or Eskimo your nose real close to mine
And let's mood the lights and finally make it right

But you don't bode and you don't pay, you got everything you need
Except for me, sister you've got it all
You make the call to make my day
In your message say my name
Your talk is all the talk, sister you've got it all

You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all
You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all

Mmm mmm And all I really need to see
You pull your knee socks up
Let me feel you upside down, slide in, slide out
Slide over here, climb into my mouth now

Butterfly
Well you landed on my mind
Actually landed on my ear but you crawled inside
And now I see you perfectly behind closed eyes
I wanna fly with you
But I don't want to lie to you

But I can't recall a better day
Sun coming to shine on the occasion
You're sophisticated, lady, you've got it all
You've got it all to make my day
In your message say my name
Your talk is all the talk, sister you've got it all

You know that fortune favors the brave
But let me get paid while I make you breakfast
The rest is up to you, who makes the call
I never forget a face, 'cept maybe my own
I have my days, let's face the fact here
It's you who's got it all

I can't recall a better day
Sun coming to shine on the occasion
You're an open-minded lady, you've got it all

You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all
You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all
You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all

You've got it all, you've got it all, you've got it all

Butterfly, baby, you've got it all

Butterfly - Jason Mraz

I love this song, it makes me feel happy.  Jason Mraz is very popular over here.

Friday Fill-Ins just for fun

1. I am so looking forward to cover you with butterfly kisses, eskimo kisses, hold you in my arms, cuddle you and make you giggle!



2. I’ll take care of the rest later.


3. When you get all soft and mellow, I melt.


4. Loving my (not so) little ones is a big part of my life.


5. If you need anything, just ask.


6. I’ll soon be on a trip.


7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to have dinner with my family at the restaurant, tomorrow my plans include sleeping, shopping, reading, and cooking and Sunday, I want to start organise my trip!

HNT

click

Will you follow me.......  to the moon?

Under Foreign Skies

Travelling, for me, can be quite a sensual experience. I am always thrilled by the first breath I inhale when I step out of the plane. Like an animal, I sniff the air and try to analyse and define what comes through my nostrils. It can be quite surprising sometimes as it is the scent of flowers or spices, rather than just the smell of dirt. When I came back to Africa last year, I recognised the very peculiar perfume of the African grass although we were miles away from the savannah, and then I heard the birds’ songs and I knew I was back on my favourite continent.

I also look at the sky. The sky is very different if you are in Stockholm or in the Masai Mara. I have never seen a clearer sky than in the Mara, it is crystal clear, pristine, as it were one of the first days of the world. When you live in a city, where the sky is blurred by pollution, by city lights at night, it does not come to your mind to watch the sky, apart from watching the starts or the moon, why would you?


If you are lucky, you hear the sounds of nature - bush or savannah, or even desert - which is in fact very quiet. Animals are quiet most of the time, apart from birds. Human beings are the loudest of all species. Annoyingly loud! In an African capital, the priest of the Orthodox Church would start to pray on the microphone from 3.30 to 5.30 a.m. every morning for two weeks. It turned out that according to their calendar, Easter started two weeks earlier than ours, something difficult to adapt to when you have to get up early and work 14 days in a row. The lion roars in the gardens of the King’s Palace next door, or the bray of rutting female donkeys at night, in the slums next door, sounded like music to our ears.


The landscapes and the colours are the most powerful first impressions. Then I look at the people, at their features¸ their clothes, the way they interact. What strikes me is that people often smile, much more than here in Europe. It seems to me that we have lost that connection, we are all so busy, serious, arrogant and grumpy. We thrive under stress, so full of our own importance, becoming upset when we are not getting what we are asking for at once. We don’t smile so much anymore. And I realise that the notion of time changes depending on where you are, North or South. Time seems to be elastic!


When you travel, ideally you open up to the world and absorb it through all your senses. If you are receptive, it is an incredible lesson of life. You have to accept less comfort, a simpler life, sometimes without electricity and/or water, different food, new spices - another incredibly sensual, almost orgasmic experience - different habits, behaviours, values, or even taboos. It always humbles me.


It makes me live several lives. One time, I am a 6 year old girl walking barefoot on the red dirt road going to school in a torn uniform, my hair pleated, sharing the classroom with children of different grades, with no lunch because the school doesn’t have enough money to feed us at noon. But I do not complain because I learn to read and I will become educated maybe until I am 12, with some luck until I graduate. My mother wakes up at 4.30 a.m. to fetch water from the river, and wood for fuel, an hour or more away from home. She has to be careful with the hyenas that come scavenging into the village at night.

Another time, I am a 23 year old policeman who bribes the owners of small shops selling cheap ethnic paraphernalia to tourists. I have to sustain the whole family since my father was put into jail for some obscure reason. I also sell fake billion dollar bills to tourist, that is how bad the inflation hit the country. I have another job at night, but I don’t want to talk about it.

I am that teenage girl, who was genitally mutilated at 13, who was forced into a marriage with a man 25 years older than her, but who run away from home, and now lives in a centre where she learns to become self-reliant and finishes school.

I am looking forward to travelling again, it is an exhilarating experience. I do feel completely elated.