Singapore and Thailand: Beating us at our own game?

If you ever wanted confirmation that the US is sliding into second-world status, you need go no further than spend a day in Singapore. With an airport voted the second best in the world and a bus/metro system that is incredibly easy to use, cheap, clean and comfortable. Double-decker buses came often and always had enough room. Take that, Seattle!

Actually the buses here in Almaty at least run often. Unfortunately they are leftovers from East Germany, as are the ancient trams, replete with German signage.
Anyway, back to Singapore. Yes, it has stringent laws. People are forbidden to chew gum (they dnt’ even sell it there). And if you think that’s bad, be forewarned that immigration cards warn you outright drug traffickers will be put to death. Yikes!

I just didn’t click with Singapore. It has every amenity you can imagine, shopping for miles, and great health care – I had to have a crown put on in the day after Christmas and found someone to do it! It was fast, efficient, painless, and cost me the same amount for this “rush” job as it would have cost to have it done over a week’s time in Seattle. I also had to get medicine for my upper respiratory infection I’d developed in Almaty. Again, the doc was thorough and friendly and cheap--$26 for an office visit!

Thailand we found much less snazzy albeit with a pretty good infrastructure. They have their own fab airport (yes, the one that was taken over in December). Roads are in good shape. Cars seem pretty expensive. But many Thais simply set up a hibachi under a tarp just outside their very modest shacks and just sell barbecued meat to the public. Incredibly friendly, must more so than the Kazakhstanis, they smile even at foreign passers-by like me. I’ve hear people refer to the famous Thai smile, and now I know why. I appreciated their calmness and attitude toward animals. Although feral dogs and cats roamed the streets much as they do in Almaty, Thais often put our food for them and although many dogs seemed unkempt and diseased, they seemed to actually have a home.

We had a fabulous time kayaking through a mangrove forest while monkeys jumped on our boats to get bananas, rode elephants through the jungle, went scuba diving in the Indian Ocean, and even petted tigers both big and baby. Had we not all gotten quite ill from food poisoning, the trip would have been ideal. Actually Alexander had to be taken by ambulance down the mountain from the monastery he was staying at and hospitalized for two days, all for $750. Good care too. We’re all on the mend now in our respective homes, but it was a bit dicey.

Update on Alexander’s year off: He is leaving soon for Patagonia to work on a sheep farm, then to Peru to work for an NGO for orphans, and finally to the Dominican Republic to work for a company giving out microloans. Kids – they have all the luck.