What's New?
21 March - Back home in San Diego. Will update with additional pictures when I get a chance.
12 January
Well, we made it to Bangkok. The flight was unrewarding as a recreational activity, but it was an aeronautical success. And our bags arrived within a day of us. We were delighted to see them again.
Anyway, we've seen the requisite Emerald Buddha and Royal Palace, the Jim Thompson House, the Marble Temple, the river, and the bowels of the city. Tomorrow morning we're off to Lopburi for a day, and then to Sukhothai for a few days.
Wat Benchamabophit - The Marble Temple
There are no lack of tourists here, and the papers have a picture of a beach in Phuket lined with beach chairs and umbrellas. Patong Beach is still closed for repairs, but it's obvious they're working pretty hard to get it all together again.
14 January
We're leaving Lopburi this morning for Sukhothai, after crawling around some Angkor-era temples, as well as some more "recent" ones dating from the 1600s.
Lopburi is known for it's monkeys, and Alan did get jumped from behind by a little fella, who was able to remove some of his hair before departing. Alan now has a little less tail, alas.
The bars on that window, by the way, are to keep the monkeys out of the temple ruins. We spent a while on the inside looking out at the gawking crowds, kind of like monkeys in a zoo, you might say.
18 January
Here we are in Chiangmai, my old haunts. After Lopburi, we hit Sukhothai for two days, with a side trip to Si Satchanalai. Both are old cities now in ruins - old as in 1200 - 1350 AD. Just kind of hard to imagine those timelines, being from the New World and all that.
Then we stopped for a night in Lampang to see the elephant conservation center, a government enterprise to further the protection of the Asian elephant. Besides seeng how they move timber, draw elephant pictures, and make elephant music, we got to see the elephant hospital. Very interesting, since really big patients present some special problems.
Lampang also has a temple, which is still in use, dating to the 1200s. Chiangmai is much the same. Yeah, I know - Rome and Athens are much older, but they're not stiill using the same buildings on a daily basis.
So, we're settling in for a few days of relaxation, after being pretty much on the move for the past week. My guesthouse of choice was full up when we arrived this afternoon, but they promised us a room tomorrow and we're spending tonight at a rather tattered place nearby.
21 January
Well, it seems that there's no lack of things to do in Chiangmai. Temples, mountains, waterfalls, the usual. And food. The weather's perfect. Tomorrow morning, we're off to Mae Salong, in the hills to the north, just a few kilometers from Burma. We'll be spending about three days in that area, and then back here. See 'ya then . . .
25 January
Back in Chgiangmai now, after a short trip to Chiang Rai and Mae Salong. The latter is a Chinese town at the very northern corner of Thailand, just a few kilometers from Burma. Until the mid-1960s the KMT (Koumintang - Chiang Kai-Shek & Co.) were still fighting the Chinese from within Burma. When Burma expelled them under pressure from the Chinese, Thailand provided a spot of land in these high hills for what was basically a refugee community. I'm guessing thet the US was pivotal in influencing (and remunerating) the Thais on the KMT's behalf. This was a bit of a tricky proposition, since the KMT were affiliated with Khun Sa, likely the world's most prolific drug trader. (Khun Sa lived just north of Mae Salong until a few years ago, when he moved back to Burma). Anyway, it's now a quant little town with three Buddhist temples, a mosque, and a Baptist church. The area produces a lot of tea, and the tea shops and tasting rooms are a bit of a tourist attraction for the Thais. The trip up there was a bit of a challenge, as our Honda 100 grunted a bit at the steep hills.
We also took a half-day ride around Chiang Rai, primarily to visit some caves. Along the way, we saw a large limestone formation with a glint of gold at the top - a sure sign there was a temple there. After a bit of getting lost (as in "can't get there from here"), we found what turned out to be a temple complex and meditation center at the bottom of the hill. We explored a few more caves, nearly bumping into some monks meditating in the dark corners. Oops!
After the caves, we set out to climb the hill via a very rudimentary set of steps made to compliment the natural rock pathway. It was nearly straight up, nonetheless. Wishing I'd brought a bottle of water with me (duh!), we finally made it to the top, to discover that there was a locked gate! I can't recall seeing a locked temple before, at least during the day, but so be it. We had a great view from the top anyway, and at least go to laugh about it some.
Back in Chiang Rai, we turned the bike back in and did a walking tour of the local wats (temples). It's as if Thailand's premier art form is their architecture.
29 January
Holly headed back home yesterday, saying something about going back to work, and my wanderings will be solo from this point on. I hope she's not too mad when she sees how much stuff I slipped into her bag to bring home! We did a little shopping on her last few days here, which is kind of a sport here in Chiang Mai.
With my visa due to expire in a few days, and a bit of boredom with Chiang Mai setting in, I'll be heading north to Mae Sai tomorrow, where I'll cross the river into Burma at Tachilek. From there, my intent is to hop a truck (no buses there) to Keng Tung, and old town situated in a high valley, and from there to Mong La, near the Chinese border. This is the Shan state of Burma, and has a bit of autonomy from the central government - the Wa army has cut a deal with Rangoon for a certain amount of freedom in exchange for a cut of the drug profits, or so they say. My study for this trip is a series of interviews with Khun Sa, the "Drug Warlord" or "Shan Patriot and Freedom Fighter", depending on your point of view (the DEA takes the former). Along the way, I've discovered that the KMT and Khun Sa are no longer the friends I thought them to be, which might explain why he is no longer in Thailand, having skipped the neighborhood when the remains of the KMT army moved into Mae Salong. (See the 25 January post).
Interestingly, there are reports of some in-fighting within the central Burmese (army) government this week, including reports of a gun battle between the heads. Hmmm.
Hope to be back in time to catch the end of the Flower Festival here in Chiang Mai on the 6th.
3 February
Hi again. I'm back from Myanmar (the nation formerly known as Burma), where I failed to mention earlier there is no internet. Hence the lapse in updates. Had a great, dusty, and wonderful time. Read more about it here.
Back here in Chaingmai, they're getting ready for the Flower Festival that starts tomorrow, which by all accounts is quite the occassion. Folks seem to be in an even better mood than normal, which is saying something. See 'ya after the flower festival, hopefully with some pics.
6 February
OK, the flower festival was pretty cool, even for a guy like me that's not all that into flowers. Sort of like the Rose Parade, but slower. A bunch of floats, waving beauties, marching bands, etc. Mostly traditional dress, though one band had all Hawaiian shirts, another played a James Bond theme, and there was an entire tribe of musical American Indians. Oh, well, the Rose Parade always has some Trojans, so what the hell. Lots of displays, also, by the Orchid Club, Bonzai Club, and a bunch of other clubs that I couldn't read the names of. Lots of food, of course.
The coolest butterfly just flew is as I'm writing this - white and black on the top, yellow and red on the bottom. How distracting.
(7 Feb - Yes, I see that he same picture is in there twice. Well, a flower is a flower, and I'm not changing it. Sure wonder where the other one went, though - ed. You can see the originals HERE, if you'd like.)
The national elections are today, so the bars were all closed yesterday, as well as today. Anyway, closing the bars sure changes the ambiance around here - it was really dead. And today it was almost like a ghost town, save for all the Westerners walking around. Most Thai were home - often out of the district - to vote. I'd image Bangkok was really eerie. The newspaper said that for a while on Friday night there were over 100,000 people in just one of the bus stations. Ouch. If they don't vote, they get a letter from the government asking them to explain why. Nice to see some people take democracy seriously. The best part is that the trucks with the big speakers are gone.
As for me, I'm headed out tomorrow. I'm generally reticent to state my plans ahead of time, in case I change my mind, but the general intent is thus:
I might fly to Udon Thani in Northeastern Thailand and then hop over the border to Vientiane in Laos. From there, I might rent a 250cc dirt bike and take the long way to Phonsavan, Sam Neua (Xam Nua), and Vieng Xai. Or I might not. Internet is rare outside the major cities in Laos, so I may be out of touch for a while. My visa will be for 15 days, so I'd imagine I'll be back before then. See 'ya.
8 February
Well, well, well. The internet situation certainly has improved here in Laos over the past two years, thanks to satellites. I'm in Vang Vieng, a town I last visited in 1999. At that time, there were about 8 other foreigners here, staying in the three small guesthouses and just kicking back in a very relaxing setting. Now it's like Pai, in Northern Thailand, gone very, very bad. Two streets are nothing but guesthouses and restaurants nearly as far as one can see, each with neon lights, and each showing a different movie in the open seating areas. There must be a few hundred visitors, and half of them were walking up from the river this afternoon carrying their rented inner tubes. It's pretty scary. So what am I doing here? Well, I took off from Vientiane a bit late this morning, and stopped quite a bit along the way, so decided not to push on to the next town 'till early tomorrow. Today's ride was HOT, so I think an early start is in the cards - like 6:00. The roads are fairly decent (so far) and very windy - built for a bike except that they let trucks use them too. No complaints - there's actually more livestock on the roads than other vehicles. I was able to get that dirt bike, which should prove handy later on when I hit the bad roads. The only problem is that I'm just barely able to touch the ground with my toes, so coming to a stop is somewhat of a pain.
Vientiane was pretty much as it's been - dusty and pretty slow-moving for a capitol city. I spent last night there, after leaving Chiang Mai on - well, whatever day this is, it was a couple of days ago. Only kink there was that the folks who were doing my lanudry didn't open their shop on the morning that I left, so I'm short a pants and shirt (1/3 of my inventory), and most importantly two pairs of socks. I replaced the pants and shirt, but have discovered that socks are not real popular here in Laos. And getting back to that bike - I can't reach the ground in my flip-flops.
Great news: Laos has issued a 20,000 Kip bill. It's worth about US$2, and sure makes it easier to carry than the old 5,000 (50 cents) and 10,000 (US$1) notes. Dollars, Thai Baht, and Lao Kip are all accepted here, and it's not uncommon to see a shop listing different merchandise with different currency. Cheap stuff is quoted in Kip, Baht for mid-range, and Dollars for the expensive things. They'll accept anything, but the quantity of zeros (and notes) in Kip just gets out of hand.
Next stop: Phonsavan.
14 February
Just back from the little side trip to Laos, and am resting up in Khon Kaen, Thailand. It's 35 degrees here today (95 F), which is quite a change from the mountains of northern Laos, where I was wearing two shirts and a windbreaker, at least in the mornings. Why Khon Kaen? Well, it's just a couple of hundred kilometers from where I enterd the country, and it seemed to have nothing to offer tourists, so I figured it might be a laid-back hidden jewel. Hardly any signs in English, etc. After a day here, I can attest to that fact - there is nothing here for tourists save possibly for the food, which is excellent. I've also had the sweetest, tastiest som-oh (pumello) that I could have imagined.
Anyway, it's boring here, so I'll probably go elsewhere tomorrow.
