Young visitors, mopeds and world politics

We haven't heard from us for a while, so here's an update and to get to the most important point right away. We are fine.

The parents have landed back in Saxony and the godchild (13) has arrived safely with us. So we are now traveling as a trio. After a few days by the sea, age-appropriate entertainment in the water park and museum, we are now traveling in the far north of Thailand with the moped. We are following the Mae Hong Son Loop for about 600 km, with 1800 curves from and to Chiang Mai.

This takes us through picturesque valleys, a beautiful river cave, and past many temples. The proximity to Myanmar is felt in the food, as well as in the architecture. Many refugees live in this border area, whom we can only recognize by their Muslim clothing. An interesting visit was to the nail salon (yes, occasionally you need a little sprucing up on the road 😊), where the owner spoke openly to me about coexistence. For her, it was natural for people to flee persecution and for there to be a mosque in the village. The same woman told me that many young Israelis are currently vacationing here and she is concerned that tourists and Muslim refugees may get into conflicts that do not belong here.

I just wanted new nails...

Three days earlier, we were swimming in the pool of our apartment complex in Pattaya and noticed that Russian is the predominant language here. We look around and see families, balconies with lots of laundry, and fully furnished apartments. Are we in a holiday resort here or more of a refuge? Are the people here because they have a good life under Putin and are on vacation, or are they here because they have fled military service and the dictatorship of opinion?

We just wanted to swim...

We are far away, yet global conflicts are very close to us and cannot be ignored. And we don't want to ignore them at all. We now value being able to see them in the two weeks of vacation from the perspective of our godchild.

And of course, we also fool around a lot...

Kathleen