Thursday, December 21, 2006

I'llll be hooome for Christmas...

It's been amusing to me to see so many signs of Christmas here in Thailand, a country that is 95% Buddhist and 4% Muslim. Back in Bangkok now, it's amazing to see the over-the-top holiday decorations in weird juxtapositions with every day Thai stuff.


There was a band just to the right banging out AC/DC's Highway to Hell when we took this photo.

Everywhere you look, there are gaudy Christmas trees decked out with color coordinated lights and, of all things, giant credit cards or simply the Star of Visa.



Of course, this just confirms for me that the idea of Christmas is not a religious celebration for the Thai people for the birth of Christ, but a brilliant retail phenomenon that they've discovered which will make people buy more, more! Oh wait, that's just like back home.


Anyway in the end, we were delighted to find that we couldn't really lose our way back to the ice too badly from Bangkok.

And yes, I'll indeed be home for Christmas. I leave Bangkok the morning of Dec 24, arrive at LAX the morning of Dec 24 (a very long day) and if all goes well, I'll be back in Tucson in time for lunch. Brien is going home to Oregon/Idaho and Renee is boldly pressing on to India then Europe.

Hope you've enjoyed the travel blog. I'll keep it going from Tucson and then I deploy back to South Pole on Jan 18 so as always, stay tuned.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a smashing Happy New Year to everyone!

4 Comments:

At 1:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why is the sign for Australia pointing in the opposite direction to Antarctica? I thought they are both south of Thailand :-D !!!!!

It's a wonder you haven't seen Santa Claus nailed to a crucifix - apparently this was seen by a group of western tourists in China one Christmas. Talk about accidental connections!

Hope you guys have a safe trip home and Heidi I hope my Christmas card arrives in Tuscon before you do!

Have a great Christmas and a wonderful new year!

Tara xo

 
At 9:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantastic sunset picture!

Has Jeff killed his journal? Your link to it brings up something odd now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 
At 3:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Heidi! Sam and I have been enjoying your blog and reading about all of your latest adventures! Thailand sounds like a lot of fun -- definitely a place that we'd like to visit one day.

All the best as you head home to Tuscon!

Jen (and Sam) Shea

p.s. Excellent pictures! Thanks for sharing!

 
At 8:14 AM, Blogger ZZ said...

i really like ur photos!

 

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