Thailand a place to begin.....

The Simplicity of Sumatra.

With the intensity of the midday sun beating brutally upon my torso, I wait patiently for a bus amongst a cluster of local farmers, soft murmurs in foreign tongue teasing my ears. A bevy of boisterous boys weave between trees as they dodge rapid fire form stick guns, behind them a gaggle of gossiping women prepare rattan baskets filled with produce, as their babies sleep soundly bound to their bosoms.

Three distinct blasts from a car horn signify my ride has arrived, and abruptly a small van packed with people pulls to the curb, a thick dust cloud billowing out from beneath it. Suddenly a state of urgency seems to wash over the villagers, as bags, boxes, and bodies are quickly crammed into what little space remains. With a chorus of commands and a flurry of gestures I am quickly ushered into the vehicle, and before I am even seated the door is slammed shut.

Precariously I sit balanced on a narrow ledge near the front of the van, a congregation of curious yet diffident eyes lay upon me. Beads of sweat trickle down my forehead and across my brow, as the strong stench of tobacco invades my nostrils, and the thick smoke stings my tired eyes. Across from me an old woman wearing an intricate head scarf casually chews beetle nuts, reveling her scarlet stained lips and teeth, her face telling a story of poverty and hardship. I watch as a young girl peels a boiled egg carelessly scattering the shell across the vans stained floor, her fragile expressionless face framed with thick locks of dark hair.

It's in this moment I realize how far I am from where I once began, everything I have just seen, smelt, tasted, and heard is foreign to me. My senses are in overdrive, the simplicity of the situation is lost to me. Everywhere I look brings a new image to mind and with every breathe I take a new taste and aroma tickles my tongue. I have become fully immersed in my surroundings and cant help but smile, once again I have been taken.