Swinging in the trees

Finally, we are at the treehouse! This is the ultimate reward for every good deed I've ever done and all the evil deeds I have put off for another day. Our luscious teak treehouse has two stories and a walkway to our bathroom and outdoor shower. It feels like Swiss Family Robinson. The place comes complete with kittens, spiders, chickens, dogs and pigs, waterfalls and organic gardens. Even with the sniffles, I am totally blissed out.

The trip here was a trip. We stopped by a Thai market to see what the Thais like to put on their plates. There were the expected veggies, rice & innards, some exotic fruits and some unlikely suspects. One stall was selling bags of live frogs. Fat, freaky long clawed frogs fresh for the dinner table. They did not look impressed. Perhaps they had already seen the stall selling the fried frogs. Not to be a one snack wonder, they also sold fried spiced beetles, crickets, grubs and unknown critters. I implored my non-veg travelling companions to sample something for a review, but they declined.

We were charmed by a man and his dog riding a scooter alongside us. The dog was seated in the man's lap with its front paws on the handlebars and its back legs sticking straight forward. They looked pretty pleased to be travelling together. I couldn't get my camera but I could reach my sketchbook for a super quick sketch. Obvs I was so focused on the man and dog that I took no notice whatsoever of how the scooter was put together.

The plan for tomorrow is to laze around the treehouse, pet some kittens and maybe visit some local temples.

The two things you see everywhere in Thailand are temples and photos of the king. The temples are disconcerting enough, gold leaf and ornate decorations in a village where everyone else is under a corrugated metal roof. The images of the king are really everywhere. You will be walking through the woods off the beaten path and there's a billboard of him in his huge 80s glasses gazing pensively down at his camera. No matter where you go, the king is always with you.