Ok…I know I haven't updated in a very very very very long time….and I shouldn't give any excuses like "It's summer, I have a job, I'm busy"…I'm sorry….I really am sorry….*gives out free cookies to everyone*

Disclaimer-I will (most likely) never own this series or the Monk series…*cries alone in a corner*.

Thailand, Part 10: Has everyone lost his/her mind?

Day Ten: More Hill Tribes on the Road Back to Chiang Mai

The morning started as usual: waking up, taking care of hygiene stuff like showering, brushing teeth and getting dressed, and then the nations headed down to the hotel restaurant. For breakfast there was a buffet menu, which included several things from both Western and Asian traditions, including these tasty sugar-covered fry-bread treats called Chinese donuts. Alfred ate more than anyone else.

"And you wonder why your country has the one of the highest obesity rates in the world?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Yah, I don umberspand dat ah aww!" (1) Alfred replied with his mouth full.

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After breakfast they met with Panida again and they started the trek back to Chiang Mai. Unlike the last time, they didn't go by river, but rather made several stops along the way. The first was an Akah tribal village up in the hills. Afterwards they went to a couple of border towns, one claiming to be the northernmost point of Thailand before reaching Burma/Myanmar, and another one where the border was divided by a bridge over a small river. At the second one there was a large border market they spent some time exploring.

"I'm tiiireeeddd desu yo!" Peter complained.

Berwald nodded, picked him up and carried him for a few minutes.

After some time, Tino began to get tired as well. He sat down on a log. "I'll catch up, don't wait for me."

Berwald looked at him then picked him up.

Tino squeaked with surprise. "Ah! Tha…that's not necessary Berwald!"

"My son got tir'd so I car'ed 'im. Th'n m' wife got tir'd so 'll carry you."

"I'm not your wife!" He protested.

Elizaveta appeared next to them. "Why do you deny your beautiful relationship?"

Roderich dragged her to the back of the line and apologized for her outburst.

Afterwards they reached the Golden Triangle, the point where Thailand, Laos, and Burma/Myanmar meet. At the Triangle was an opium museum with several displays explaining the history of opium and even some tribal legends pertaining to its origins.

At this point Kiku noticed an Akah-style spirit bridge in the museum (which they saw in the village as well) and observed that it almost looks like a primitive form of a Japanese torii (the red bridges at the entrance of a Shinto shrine - although some torii aren't even red). He asked Panida about it, but she was confused and didn't know what he was talking about.

"But it looks exactly the same!" Kiku said.

"I'll bet she stole it da ze." Yong Soo whispered to him.

"You would know about stealing aru." Yao said under his breath.

At another part of the Triangle (they stayed on the Thailand side the entire time) there was a huge Buddha statue being worked on and a whole boat-like temple-ish display supposedly being worked on for the Queen's birthday, with a mixed goal of re-working the image of the Golden Triangle as a Buddhist landmark instead of its notoriety of its role in the opium trade years ago.

"I once smelled an opium candle." Sadik said.

"Did you get high from it?" Holland asked.

"No, and it smelled gross. Like old paint." Sadik replied.

"Is that what opium really smells like? Than how did people get so addicted to it?" Belgium wondered aloud.

Seychelles shrugged. "Because people are weird?"

Everyone considered this as an acceptable answer.

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Afterwards the countries spent a short amount of time at the lookout where they could see in the distance past the river the Laos and Burma/Myanmar sides of the Golden

Triangle – on the Myanmar side was a casino and on the Laos side was one in construction.

"A casino? It's like Vegas! Let's go and play the slots!" Alfred said excitedly.

"Yeah! And then let's reenact 'The Hangover ®'!" Gilbert said as he put his arm around Matthew. "Matt here can be Doug!"

"How did I get roped into this?" Matthew asked in a frightened way.

At the lookout point there were also a couple of shops, one of which where Taiwan bought a Thai silk dress before they left again for one of their other destinations before they returned to Chiang Mai.

"Mmm, that fabric is très bon you~." Francis commented with a smirk.

"There should be a law against perversity during our trips." Said Roderich, frowning.

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Their next stop was an in-construction temple known as the White Temple. They couldn't go inside because Lovino was wearing shorts (but by that time he was tired of Buddhist temples anyway).

"Even so, this is discrimination against shorts wearers!" Lovino said angrily.

"We should start a protest!" said Antonio who was also wearing shorts.

"I agree completely!" Francis cut in. "It's unfair to discriminate against shorts wears! Everyone should be allowed to wear shorts and not face such prejudice! They show off their legs~."

"I'm starting to agree with your outlaw of perversity on these trips." Vash said to Roderich.

Feliciano jumped up excitedly. "I'll make the picket signs for the protest!"

Ludwig sighed. "All this time I've spent with him…..and I still don't understand him…"

Arthur shook his head. "Have they all lost their bloody minds today?"

As the tour guide explained, supposedly a famous contemporary Thai artist who wanted to contribute something to his country designed the temple. Thus on the grounds of the temple there was also a gallery with his artwork and they sold prints of his stuff there as well.

"Ah, I recognize this artist." Frances said. "I have a few prints of his work. I have been to Thailand quite a few times."

"Yes, and a quarter of the population has been sexually harassed by you ana…" Thailand whispered to himself.

Later, a few nations felt that it was a good a time as ever to stop at a restroom and soon discovered one. What they discovered was that the restroom was a large, elaborate gold-plated building - with two stories! No one knew what the second story was for.

"It's a mystery da ze." Yong Soo said while waving his arms strangely.

"It would take the world's greatest detective to solve it." Denmark said.

"Sherlock Holmes?" Arthur asked.

"No! He is great but he's not the greatest." Alfred said, shaking his finger. "Adrian Monk is the greatest of all time!"

"He's the world's greatest detective?" Iceland asked.

"According to the author he is." Matthew said quietly.

"….aren't we breaking the fourth wall?" Norway pointed out.

"…oh dear…yes we are ana. We must be losing our minds faster than we thought ana." Thailand said.

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After the temple they drove for some time until we reached a hot spring where they had a free "foot spa" - basically a place to soak their feet. So they took a break there and, surprisingly, Ivan was the only one who could stand to keep his feet in the water because they chose a spot high up close to the spring from where the water in the foot spa was coming (the foot spa almost worked like rings of a fountain on each level) and it was really, really hot. As it is the only reason Ivan could endure for so long was because after he stuck his feet in he didn't move and just let his feet adjust.

"Isn't the water near-scalding level aru?" Yao asked him.

"Maybe, I don't know. All I know is, it's warm." He replied blissfully.

There was a lower-level area closed off because it was hot enough to hard-boil an egg within minutes. To prove the point, eggs were sold at the spring! That water was even hotter than the foot spa water.

"Lunch and a bath so warm you could sleep in it…what a wonderful idea." Heracles said to Thailand approvingly.

"My feet feel absolutely wonderful." Ivan happily. "Even though they are completely red, it was worth it!"

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Once they left the hot springs it was a straight drive through forest and hills back to their old hotel in Chiang Mai. They had a different room a floor or two lower than their previous one this time. They ate dinner there and just relaxed for the night. However, Arthur lay in bed wondering, "Why was there a second story? Ahh, better not think about it too much, I'll lose my mind even more than I may already have."

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(1)If you need a translation, "Yeah, I don't understand that at all!"