Her

It was early evening and Trevor boarded a bus to Bangkok. As the bus rode off he made the transition from travel friend to facebook friend and for the first time since I left Kuala Lumpur I was alone with myself. Feeling a bit lonely and bored I thought, "Hmm...What does the universe have in store for me next?"

The small but developed city of Chiang Rai was awakening from a mid-afternoon nap. Vendors were setting up their stalls in the night market and as the sun faded away strings of festive lights snapped on, one at a time. The streets slowly filled with people and the aroma of Thai street cooking wafted through the air as the first of the local performers took the stage at the center of the market. First the slow rhythmic tapping of a traditional drum, then the whining of a familiar sounding oriental stringed instrument, and lastly a high-pitched tonal voice sang the setting of a festive night market into wholeness.

I browsed the stalls aimlessly breathing it all in. Perhaps I'd replace that ratty red Ohm T-shirt I picked up in Jaipur or find a new pair of matching earrings. After an hour of strolling the market my stomach started growling so I headed to the food stalls for a cheap and authentic meal. The scene reminded me of a flea market, a vast sea of plastic tables and chairs flanked on two sides by food stalls and the stage on another. I walked the perimeter examining the food in an attempt to identify what they were cooking up. All signage was in Thai.

"Pad Thai Chicken", I said to the woman behind the counter. I turned to my right and caught my first glimpse of HER in the distance. Six feet tall, slender and wearing a bright red shirt she commanded my attention from afar. A few seconds later I realized that my glimpse had turned into a full-on stare. She was really pretty, and she was heading my way. In a few seconds she was in front of me, surrounded by what must have been some sort of force field because as she approached time distorted, seconds lasted hours. Our eyes met as we passed and I felt a surge blast through my chest. I fought with all I had not to break my gaze and look away, digging deep I pulled out a smile. And as the plane of my shoulder broke that of her's, she smiled back. Warm electricity coursed through my veins as time resumed its normal flow. I was on a high, smitten. She took a seat at an empty table to enjoy her dinner. I had to go talk to her.

My fellow guy travelers will testify that anytime you meet a solo female traveler, within seconds you meet her boyfriend. A rule of thumb seems to dictate that the hotter she is, the bigger the douche bag her boyfriend is, making it that much harder to take.

"Oh come on! You've got to be kidding me! Seriously, you're with Dreadlocked White Guy??? Honey, what are you doing? Don't you know that white guys with dreadlocks occupy the highest rung on the douche bag ladder? A solid 3 spots above guy who wears blue tooth ear piece 24-7."

I know what you're thinking, Fox, you are "33 year old guy with ears pierced". Maybe so, but that doesn't begin to approach the level of douche baggery of having dreadlocks.

So I scanned the crowd for DB-BF candidates. We're all clear, she is alone. So with Pad Thai Chicken in hand I headed in her direction to take a seat at an adjacent table. As I got close her force field took it's hold on me again, my nerves started in, butterflies in my stomach, my internal commentator started speaking to me; "Think of something witty to say. How do you know if she speaks English? Don't be stupid. Bring your A-game!"

"SHUT UP!!!!!"

I sat down beside her and conversation unfolded with ease. We talked for hours over dinner, then over coffee, and more as we strolled the night market. And there it was. The command of my wit, the unabashed confidence, the silver tongue...the A-game. The dialogue couldn't have been written better. As we spoke, she looked deep into my eyes and smiled and laughed. It was more than apparent that she liked me too. Now, usually this is where the logical mind breaks down and that object of Bhutanese adoration takes over and starts calling the shots, typically leading to disastrous results. (Don't get it? Reference post:Res-Erection Part 1) But I kept cool knowing damn well where this was heading.

"Let's go for cocktails!", she said in her Dutch accent.

I gave no argument as we headed to a sidewalk cafe for a carafe of white wine. She told me that she really wanted to go on a 2-day trek into the local hill tribe villages, but the guides wouldn't go unless one more person signed up.

Now folks, I've done the jungle trekking thing and I am over it. But, here is where that object of Bhutanese adoration made the call. "I'd love to go trekking", I replied.

(Good job, you made a great decision this time!..but there is no way you are picking our next dentist, I'll let Mouth make that call.)

We planned to head out the next morning and then ordered another carafe of wine, then another until the evening transitioned into tomorrow.

Now I was raised by a good mother who instilled a good sense of chivalry in me. What gentleman would let a lady walk for 10 minutes to her guest house alone? At 1:00 in the morning? In the dark?

Her: "I'm going to get a taxi back."
Me: "You won't find one at this hour. I'd be happy to walk you back."
Her: "OK" with a smile

My Internal Dialogue: "WOO-HOO!!!!"

Her guest house was just outside of the city on the river banks. As the road transitioned from sealed pavement to dirt, the street lights faded into the distance. I stopped to look up. The view was magnificent, every star in existence was out on this clear moonless night. On the horizon I saw the bright red glow of a traditional Thai paper balloon lantern hanging in the distant sky. I pointed up at it and she stepped to my side to follow my finger in hopes to see it too. That was the last thing I would see as what entered my field of vision next was the complete blackness of the inside of my eye lids. Next, I felt the warm electric current enter my body through my lips and emanate through every fiber of my body as we stood on the bank of the river under the stars.

Yada yada yada...The next day we headed out for the hill tribes. A short boat ride up the river delivered us to an Akha village where we would start our 2-day walk through the unbridled pristine hills of Northern Thailand.

After a 45-minute elephant ride we hopped off and thanked our pachyderm friend with treats of bananas and sugar cane, then headed off to play ping-pong with the Akha children. Following a traditional lunch we set off through the dense jungles, pastoral rice paddies,

and secluded babbling water falls.

As the sun retreated over the horizon we came to the Lahow village we would sleep at that evening.

The Lahow live like there ancestors have for eons. With exception of solar panels to light the bulb in each hut and motorbikes to bring the rice harvest up the mountain side, I could have easily confused it for 1808.

Our house for the night was a hut like those pictured above. As our guide went to work on dinner we walked through the village greeting the people and their animals (I now have a blind hatred for roosters... crack of dawn my ass!!! These things never stop!).

After dinner I slipped off for a moment and returned with a bottle of white wine I bought when she wasn't looking (Damn I'm smooth!). We shared the wine and conversation under the great expanse of the gorgeous night sky, looking over the distant lights of Chiang Rai in the valleys below.

Yada yada yada... The following day we headed deeper into the hills, stopping at another Akha village for lunch before heading through the tea plantations of an ethnic Chinese village.

By 4:00 we reached our final stop, the natural hot springs. And after an hour long soak we met a truck and caught a ride back to Chiang Rai.

We spent one more evening together before I said goodbye to her. I had to catch a bus to the laid-back, hippie art community of Pai on the Burmese border, and she had to catch that proverbial bus to oblivion. As quickly as it started, it was over.

I spent the next 4 days in the sleepy town of Pai (hmm...Pai......) replaying moments in my mind and missing her. Then I headed to Chiang Mai; to meet up with some friends I made in Laos and Africa, and to bide my time for a week before Rae, Travis and Kelly arrived.

When I got to Chiang Mai I learned that there was civil unrest in Thailand and it looked like a military coup was imminent. As the news showed images of thousands of protesters shutting down the airport in Bangkok, I questioned whether my friends would be able to get in. I exhaled and took another sip of my coffee, then looked to the street dog beside me and said to her,"Hmm...What does the universe have in store for me next?"