You Decide - Thailand, India or France?
Reader, I invite your participation in this debate.
So I’m holed up in a hotel room nursing a cold I got from sleeping outdoors in a tent during a thunderstorm. Low point on the trip, but a good time to reflect.
I meet many single-country enthusiasts out here on the road. Some people “love” Thailand. India “changed” other people’s “lives”. And others still “adore” France. But which country really does this whole life thing better? I put this question to you, dear read, while I present you with only with the facts (and some pictures I’ve been meaning to post):
Guys & Gals
Family Life
Thailand
India
France
women's roles
you can get an education but you must become a nurse
you can get an education but don't be late with dinner
you can get an education but don't get fat
marriage
young and fast
young and arranged
live together for ten years and have a child then maybe get married
children
in uniform marching to school
in work gangs on the side of the road breaking rocks
in public parks after dark, loitering and tagging buildings
Nationalism
Thailand
India
France
history
long and storied
reaaaaly long and storied
fuck the brits and fuck the germans
attitude toward foreigners
you'll never be one of us, but we will be polite to you as you spend your money
so, what part of India did you say you were from, again?
it's really annoying to us that you came here at all
civil society
unifying
non-existent
always on the edge of rebellion
the state
creepy, nearly fascist devotion to king and progress
near chaos
crushing bureaucracy, closed for 2 hours at lunch
Food
Thailand
India
France
breakfast
rice porridge
dosa
cigarettes and coffee
lunch
curry noodles
chapati
kebab
dinner
one pot stew and rice
7 different veggie carbs with tons of rice (in the south) or bread (in the north)
at least three courses of very small portioned, fatty animal proteins on a bed of lettuce
condiments
ground peanuts and hot sauce
chutney and hot sauce
mustard and hot sauce
butter
on nothing
all over everything, including your body
all over your bread and meat
Daily Life
Thailand
India
France
water
drink from the tap in some select cities
drink from the tap at your fucking peril
you can drink from the tap all the time, but we prefer to buy fancy water for $5 a bottle
weather
africa hot
africa hot
sometimes surprisingly africa hot
service
bowing
scraping
all but spitting in your food
garbage
if no one is looking, throw it on the street
throw it on the street, who cares who's looking?
throw it on the street, but we'll have overpaid civil servants come pick it up in the morning
bathrooms
squat or sometimes sit
squat with your eyes closed, never ever sit
sit, but use this bowl brush to clean up after yourself, what do you think this is, a hotel? (but it is a hotel . . .)
Religion
Thailand
India
France
faith
quietly devout
loudly devout and sometimes violently sectarian
nominally observant
churches
over the top
over the top
over the top
Fun and Games
Thailand
India
France
drinking
no one does it
men do it
men, women and children do it, a bottle of wine a day
sex
prim and proper, with pockets of extreme freakiness
prim and proper, with pockets of naughty texting
sex toys for sale in the supermarket, lingerie shops in the central square
wifi
everywhere
there would be wifi, except the power goes in and out all the time
we're too well bred to give you unlimited wifi access
giving directions
"i'll show you on the map" (in perfect english)
"go straight"
"go straight to hell"
pop music
horrible techno
horrible techno
horrible techno
