Thailand's spell

Much of my trip was spent simply under the spell of Thailand, art galore, an unending display of markets, far more than you ever have energy to explore, filled with handmade goods. Farmers markets with such an array of foods, Thailand is know to have the biggest variety of food in the world, and yes, I did eat an insect, a cricket. I had to choose from large larvae, huge roaches, grasshoppers, beetles and crickets. I thought the cricket seemed the most harmless and probably would be salty and crunchy—wrong! They have a very distinct taste, a taste that ten minutes of swigging iced coffee couldn’t remove. But I did it, once.
Little hidden restaurants, in out of the way places, more like gardens than eateries. Highways with heavy traffic that rival any large US city but jolted back to Asia by the presence of a man riding an elephant down the street.
Ethnic clothing nothing short of a riot of color with jewelry hand beaten out of silver adorning the wearer.