Spider on the Wall
The spider was well camouflaged, silent and still as the flickering oil lamps cast dim shadows on the wall of the teashop. Gathered around an old wooden table, seated on benches and on the dirt floor, the Burmese villagers attempted conversation with Barbara and me. Only our accidental host, Nan Mai, spoke even a smattering of broken English and neither my wife nor I spoke more than rudimentary Burmese. The only common thread of verbal communication came as we took turns reading stories from a grade school English primer. Rather than inane tales of Dick and Jane, the children's book talked of dragons and wizards. Princesses were put under spells as their heroes came to their rescue.

The Secrets of Tham Krabok
Wat Tham Krabok, 7 a.m.: Thirty young men are kneeling in two long lines, heaving their guts into buckets—the sound of violent retching shatters the air. A motley crowd of monks and onlookers is banging drums and cheering them on. And why, you ask, cheering them on? Well, this all has a perfectly rational explanation: we’re spectators at the world’s most unorthodox—and successful—cold turkey program. It’s an awful way to start the day, but in this 15-minute session, Thai heroin addicts are given a vile brown liquid that induces vomiting, and then consume a pail of water. The session is supposed to rid the body of toxins.