What's that incredible smell, Your Highness?

     OK, that's a quote from Han Solo when the trio found themselves in the trash compacter in the first Star Wars.  But I digress.

     The trip to Thailand, outlined in the previous blog, was marvelous.  We were almost overwhelmed with new sights and sounds and yes, smells.

     There is something called Durian fruit that grows in Southeast Asia, and the pulp within is said to be sweet and delicious.  

     However, when we checked into our hotel room in Chiang Mai, we saw these signs:

      Apparently, those who have smelled intact Durian fruit would suggest that the amount of the penalties should be reversed.  

     In the previous blog post about our trip to Thailand, I  mentioned that Thai food was good and plentiful.  The chef that Ashley hired to cook during the first week when we were really outdid himself.  There were curries of all colors, seafood of all descriptions, fruit whose name I can't remember, rice and more rice, and it was all beautifully presented.  However, the second week, we started noticing something strange. 

     Our clothes started getting a soft orange shading in areas in areas of contact with perspiration. 

 We weren't sure at first, but as time went on, it became definite. 

     We tried to figure it out; if it were due to air pollution, the entire garment would be stained.  If it were due to washing the clothes in the local water, once again that would color the whole piece of clothing.  We finally decided it had to be what we were eating.

     And then we noticed that we were starting to smell like good Thai food.  This wasn't entirely unpleasant, but by about ten days into the trip, it was clearly the case..

     It all came to a head by the end of the bike tour of the Old city in Chiang Mai (which name, by the way, means "New City").  When we got back to our room, there was a most definite aroma.  We quickly put all the clothes through the Scrubba with plenty of soap and that helped, but something was still funky.  We followed our noses to my tennis shoes.

     Holy guacamole!  They were pungent, only this time it was NOT pleasant, and it wasn't just FO (Foot Odor).  Finding no evidence of having trodden on something bad, we concluded that either something had crawled in and died, or something in Thai food (of which we had partaken a lot more than we should have) exits through your feet.  I scrubbed and rinsed and scrubbed and rinsed and scrubbed and rinsed.  It helped, but after our last activities that needed tennis shoes, we donated them to Thailand. 

     We reasoned that we had already added thousands of Thai Bhat to the nation's economy, so why not a couple of tennis shoes?  If I'd kept them, we would have had to stay in Thailand because no one would have allowed us or our baggage on an international flight.

     Considering all of this, I now wonder if folks in other countries think that Americans smell like a Big Mac or a hot dog and a Coke when they get off the plane  At least those foods don't turn your unmentionables orange or your tennis shoes unwearable. 

    In the end, I'm going to keep trying new foods.  We hope that whatever you are eating has no permanent effect on your wardrobe.