Bye Thailand - Hello India

We have spent around seven weeks here, right in the middle of our trip.
Is it the time spent traveling, is it that we were so spoiled by the US and Oz, is it the culture shock of being the only white people and suddenly being the strangers or maybe we are just in need of stability?
Probably a cocktail of all of the above contributed to the fact that the Thai experience was a little overcast by feelings of tiredness, nostalgia and a mixture of we need a rest, a proper rest.
I am convinced that we also underestimated the actual living in and out a suitcase all the time as well as the strain of being together twenty four seven, anyway the last weeks of our Thai experience has been dominated by lazyness, sports, beach...,visiting islands a real holiday in the proper sense.
The South of Thailand makes way for amazing scenery, the coral islands left above sea level due to the lowering of the water over the year provided us of dream views set in the middle of the blue green waters.
Lolo visiting us was a breath of home and we always seemed to run out of saliva from all the talking we did.
The kids are going through some changes and seem to finally settle down a little (I am very apprehensive as I am typing this, it's usually enough to even think about it for all hell to break loose).

Thailand has nevertheless been an amazing experience, bringing with it more introspection on our part. It has allowed us to rest our bodies and minds and that way make us eager to explore India and travel again. This place is really the land of a thousand smiles even if sometimes it is just a smile and a yes meaning "I didn't undestand a word you said, so I guess saying yes seems the right thing to do".
A switch of mind has taken place, the pace is different people think different and express themselves from a different view point, for example if you ask someone if they haven't got something and they say "yes" it actually means "no I haven't got it". Val had a lot of difficulties with that one.
Val - "Do you have a diet coke"
Thai - smiling "yes"(I didn't get that)
Val - "where is the diet coke"
Thai - smiling broader "yes"(what are you on about)
Val - slightly agravated "NO DIET COKE?"
Thai - still smiling "yes" (no I don't).

A little bracket about my last Thai massage by the 'mama' of the place. This lady found every muscle that was hurting and went on a mission to cure my tensions resulting in quite a painful experience with me having NO say in the matter.
Thai massage is purely pressure and stretching and 'mama Sunee' was using her hands, elbows, feet and heels to 'help' me. As a result I got rolled over, pulled, poked, walked on, had heels and elbows put on me as if I was hard dough needing loosening up. Whenever the pain was getting to much because on the pressure she was putting on (it seemed like IN) my muscles and i would say something or moan, 'mama Sunee' would triple her pressure and say "I know bat you need too, good far you lelak later". As a result I tried to be as quite as possible whenever I was hurting, which didn't help at all cause she was feeling it all, and ended up my ninety minutes of torture with a shoulder I couldn't move any more. Sunee told me that I should be very relaxed today no moving no swimming nothing. The same evening my shoulder loosened up and it has never been so relaxed, I wonder if the expression 'no pain no gain' was invented in Sunee's massage parlour?

In conclusion we are ready to leave this country with a mixture eagerness and apprehension for India. The kids will surely keep an unforgettable memory of here as Thai people are extremely kid friendly.
For myself I like this country a lot it is certainly not the most beautiful place so far but it's friendliness and warmth is special. We were disapointed with the commercial touristy side of it and the dollar sign in peoples eyes at times especially down South nevertheless we will keep a great souvenir of this country (and it's mosquito's).
We feel rested if not so much physically for sure it gave us the opportunity to re-center ourselves.

Sawadee kap Thailand.