Day of Rest - the art of doing nothing

I am normally not that good at doing nothing but today I seemed to have no trouble at all.
We were in a lovely hotel with a pool in  Nakhon Phanom.

Emma and I  dozed and ate and dozed some more until a 2 hour massage in the afternoon, one hour Thai massage and one hour oil massage, during which I dozed some more.  I had forgotten that the Thais think nothing of including breasts in a full body massage which is a slightly unusual to the modesty of our western culture.  I think that was the only time I paid any attention and the rest of the time I dozed.

I did drag myself up to go on a mini excursion that Prim had organised to Ho Chi Minh's house.  The Vietnamese leader had lived in Thailand from about 1927-29 during his campaigns to free Vietnam from French rule.  It was a lovely house and garden to visit.

We also managed a temple and the Mekong Bridge, one of the three bridges that unites Lao and Thailand across the Mekong.

In the evening, after dinner, Peter gave us an update on the fundraising and where the money from this years ride is going to be used.  The total raised so far is over $780,000 which is extraordinary.  We will be riding into the Home Hug Orphanage where some of the families are already helping out and staying, ready to greet us when we arrive. 
Peter talked about the Hands involvement with Home Hug and Mae Thiew's amazing work.  When Hands first got involved, a lot of the kids there who carried the HIV virus were going on to develop Aids. They were getting lots of love and care from Mae Thiew and her team but there were simple not enough people and resources to help out.  Today, children are staying healthy and not dying as often which is huge testament to the work that is being done there.

However, most of the funds from the 2013 ride are being used to buy land and develop a centre for young girls in Chang Mai.  In 1995 I spent 3 nights staying up in the villages iwth the Hill Tribes of North Thailand which made a big impact on me then.  It is girls from these tribes that are so vulnerable.  Born into family debt and poverty, they are often forced into slavery and prostitution.  The Centre that Hands is going to build will give girls and families other options.

I needed that chat to remind myself why we are here. It was to help motivate me as I went to bed with no real concept of how hard the next few days was to be.