Walking Man Walks

Con and I have met only one other expat in Phayao: an interesting, lively, well-traveled guy named Dennis Peacock. He's the sort of character you hope to meet while traveling abroad. He lost a restaurant in the tsunami, and once walked with a monk through every province in Thailand (no one walks in Thailand). He always seemed to delighted to see Constance and me, and emailed a very nice note after reading the newspaper story of what happened to us.

We have very little community in Phayao due to cultural and language barriers (this will change with time, but it's been difficult), but I had plans for long weekly beer chats about life and Thailand and Chris Hitchens with Dennis. He seemed like the sort of guy who could fill that community/conversation void.

Dennis died last Friday (according to his website). We're shocked. Just shocked. It's difficult, as he always seemed a little bit sad and hungry for the same intangibles as us. Would've been a long, memorable friendship. As it is, we barely knew him...

If you have time, read through his blog a bit. He's a bit of a national celebrity, and knew this country probably better than any other expat we'll meet.