Bigger is NOT Better
US vs. SE Asia: In a battle of quantity, US would win. But good things come in small packages, and in Thailand and Cambodia, this rings true.
Cows – the cows I saw in Thailand and Cambodia were skinny, and made me think of the Skinny Cow commercials. The girth of these SE Asian cows was really almost a third of their American counterparts.
Roads – The super-highways in America could never survive in Thailand or Cambodia, where two lanes is enough: one for driving, the other for passing. Motorbikes are free to zoom in and out of lanes as they please.
Vehicles – no Suburbans or Navigators in SE Asia.
Bananas – Dole bananas are giants, but the mini Asian bananas are sweeter.
Hotel rooms – The rooms Julia and I booked were mini versions of the suites you would find in America, but made for a cozy sleep.
Bus seats – I don't think an even slightly obese person could wedge into a Cambodian bus.
Food portions – During our cooking course in Chiang Mai, Julia and I ate six courses and didn't even need to unbutton our pants.
Houses – along a canal in Bangkok, we passed a line of stilt houses. We stole peeks into the humble homes, amazed at what Thais can fit into a one-room family home: a TV, hammocks, cooking utensils, a gas stove, and hooks on the walls for their clothes. There was no bathroom, but I saw women washing clothes from faucets placed between every five or so homes. In Cambodia, on the road from the village to the waterfalls, we passed a naked boy, freshly bathed, heading home carrying a shampoo bottle and a bar of soap. I guess the river or the local waterfall is better than a tub.
Probably the only thing bigger in SE Asia than in America are the smiles that the locals wear (although the health of their teeth and gums is another story...)!
Cows – the cows I saw in Thailand and Cambodia were skinny, and made me think of the Skinny Cow commercials. The girth of these SE Asian cows was really almost a third of their American counterparts.
Roads – The super-highways in America could never survive in Thailand or Cambodia, where two lanes is enough: one for driving, the other for passing. Motorbikes are free to zoom in and out of lanes as they please.
Vehicles – no Suburbans or Navigators in SE Asia.
Bananas – Dole bananas are giants, but the mini Asian bananas are sweeter.
Hotel rooms – The rooms Julia and I booked were mini versions of the suites you would find in America, but made for a cozy sleep.
Bus seats – I don't think an even slightly obese person could wedge into a Cambodian bus.
Food portions – During our cooking course in Chiang Mai, Julia and I ate six courses and didn't even need to unbutton our pants.
Houses – along a canal in Bangkok, we passed a line of stilt houses. We stole peeks into the humble homes, amazed at what Thais can fit into a one-room family home: a TV, hammocks, cooking utensils, a gas stove, and hooks on the walls for their clothes. There was no bathroom, but I saw women washing clothes from faucets placed between every five or so homes. In Cambodia, on the road from the village to the waterfalls, we passed a naked boy, freshly bathed, heading home carrying a shampoo bottle and a bar of soap. I guess the river or the local waterfall is better than a tub.
Probably the only thing bigger in SE Asia than in America are the smiles that the locals wear (although the health of their teeth and gums is another story...)!
