Thailand

We left Chiang Mai a few days ago for the three hour mini bus ride to Pai. Rumors that Pai is the Khao San Road of the north are true. Although much smaller, the place was packed with young backpackers of all stripes. It was definetly a young peoples party scene. So called walking street, which still had traffic, was chock full of shops, street vendors, restaurants and bars. At night it was wall to wall people, and was beastly hot during the day.

We met a nice Taiwanese couple at our hotel, and the next day we set off with them to find a waterfall described in one of our guidebooks. It turned out to be considerably further than we thought, but the hike, along side of, and in and out of a leafy stream, was shaded and quite enjoyable.










At one point we came to a deeper pool in the stream where we could immerse ourselves in the water. It was pure bliss in the steamy heat of the jungle.











Cooler now, we walked for another hour until we came across a local couple. They had been to the falls the day before, and were back out on the trail looking for an expensive par of sunglasses. They said it was still another two hours to the falls, and running low on water, we decided not to continue. On the return, we passed several other hikers, also low on water, but they continued on, somewhat foolishly in our opinion. Eventually we met up with the couple from Taiwan, who were slower hikers. We all stopped for a beer just outside town, at the rather funky Ing Doi Bungalows. Sitting next to us was a young couple from the Bay area.

We left Pai the next morning, and none too soon in our opinion. Mae Hong Son, close to the to Burmese border, was another three hour ride on the road with a thousand curves. Although no longer off the beaten track, the locals here outnumber the tourists, and so it is a fairly low key place. Unfortunately, it was beastly hot, which came as somewhat of a surprise as this was still supposed to be the cool time of year. During the afternoons, it was just too hot to do much of anything, and we just held up in our room with the ac cranked. It was also difficult to get around because of the shortage of tuk tuks. It renewed our interest in learning how to drive a motorbike, which are cheap to rent, unlike a car.

Not far from the center of town, and a few blocks from our hotel, there is a lake. It is a nice place to stroll at night, and relatively quiet, with few motorbikes. There is a pleasant night market nearby, as well as street food and several good restaurants.











On one side, there is an old Wat, lit up like a Christmas tree with multicolored lights. On one night there was a festival, and the monks appeared to be launching fiery lanterns into the night sky.


















Mask on the grounds of the Wat

In the relative cool of the morning mist, we climbed up to another Wat high on a hill overlooking the town.











Little girl on Wat stairs

Yesterday we went up into the nearby mountains in a four wheel drive vehicle. It was on a narrow track, paved in some spots, dirt in others. After an hour or two we pulled into Ban Huai Hee, a Karenni village tucked away in the hills. Nary a tourist in sight, we had our driver negotiate with the headman to hire a guide to take us on a hike through the jungle. Soon thereafter we started on a four hour trek to another village, Ban Nam Hoo, where our driver would wait for us. It was easy at first, more like a nature walk, but then things got progressively steeper.

Our guide, Umon, pointed out various plants, although he spoke not one word of English. At a certain point his cell phone rang. It seems it was time for his podcast. And so, as we walked along the trail as he listened to music and glanced at the pictures on his smart phone. It seems as if the damn things are everywhere, and even in this remote place there was service.








As we reached the top of the pass after a gain of 2-3000 vertical feet, it was quite steep indeed.























On the way down we had to carefully pick our way amidst the lose rock. We descended to another isolated village where I took pics of the women weaving. Everyone seemed quite friendly.














I walked up to the small christian church. Obviously the missionaries had beaten us here. As promised, our driver was waiting, and then took us on the long hot ride back to Mae Hong Son.

Today we hopped a minibus back to Pai, and are staying just out of town in a little enclave known as Lychee Bungalows. It is run by an extremely personable Israeli and her Thai husband. We spent most of the day chatting with her and her British friend. It was an easy day after yesterdays strenuous hike, and a more relaxed place to stay than the center of hectic Pai.

We have kept quite busy in Chiang Mai. Each of us did a day long course. I chose to do a Thai cooking class on an organic farm outside of town. It was quite professional. Each of us had our own cooking station, and we prepared 6 or 8 dishes. By the end of the day we were all tired and stuffed. They gave us a little cookbook, and I hope to be able to reproduce some of the meals for my friends upon our return.



Your's truely bending down on the left





Meanwhile Nanette took a jewelry class, and made a very classy silver pendant for a necklace.

Pendant in process

We also took a tuk tuk out to Umong Wat, on the outskirts of town. With its subterranean tunnels, many trees, and Buddha heads, the place had a very peaceful atmosphere.





















? WHY INDEED?












Today we journeyed to an elephant show, about 45 minutes away. Nanette was keen to see it and thought it was enjoyable, though I thought it was a bit on the hokey side. Well, I have to admit that they were cute.

We came back to our apartment after that to hang out at the pool, and listen to music on my phone, through tiny, but amazingly good travel speakers. Ahh, the wonders of technology.

Everyday we have taken to having a beer and watching the sunsets from our terrace. What could be better?

Today is Chinese New Year and we thought we go into chinatown to see what was going on. At this point though, it seems as though it is not worth the effort . Another hard day of relaxation.

View from my terrace at Chiang Mai Apartments, overlooking Doi Sup Mountain and monastery.









We arrived in Chiang Mai two days ago. A bit of hassle getting from the airport to meet Derek, our landlord at the apartment. We were told we had to wait an hour for a taxi, but eventually managed to find a tuk-tuk on a street outside the airport. Not sure why the wait was so long. The apartment is quite nice, located in a residential section across from the train station. However, it is a hefty walk into town, and the tuk tuks sometimes demand too much money. Derek is quite a character. An expat Irishmen, he'll talk your ear off, is quite obese, and has traveled all over, including Leh, where he plans to return this summer. How he manages at that altitude, with all the extra weight he is carrying, is a question.

Yesterday we reached Nyi Nyi and ate lunch together. He was the monk we had met in Mandalay three years ago, who we tried, but failed to help him get to the US. He was desperate to leave Burma at the time, as this was before anything had changed for the better in that beleaguered country. He managed to sneak across the border to Thailand, as so many Burmese have done, and ended up in Chiang Mai because he had a friend here. Looking nothing like the monk he was, he is a handsome young man, neatly dressed, who works as a receptionist at Le... Massage. He is much more upbeat and mature than when we knew him in Burma, and despite the improvement in things in his own country, has no desire to return. The owner of Le... seems to be a savvy business woman who has taken a liking to him, and so he has a lot of responsibility considering he is just a receptionist. The fact that his English has improved considerably is no doubt an important factor, as several of the masseuses and masseurs are Burmese, and don't speak English. He does the translating since almost all the customers are English speakers. It may not be too long before he is managing the place. What he hopes to do at some point, is return to Burma and get a passport. Then he can get a legal visa for Thailand and enroll in a Thai high school where he can study the language. Although not a certainty, this may enable him to live here on a permanent basis. It is really wonderful to seem him so happy. He feels there are some real opportunities for him to make some money, to continue studying, and to make a life for himself in Chiang Mai.

We stppped into his spa last night hoping to meet his boss, but she had already left. We did get great oil massages with two people who he picked out for us, also Burmese. There is a large, and mostly illegal Burmese community here, and I'm sure they are often paid less and treated badly, just like Mexicans in the US. Luckily for Nyi Nyi, he seems to have found a place for himself where this is not the case.

Tomorrow, he wants to take us out to dinner now that he is working.




Nanette and Nyi Nyi






It was a bit strange to be drinking beer, and more than one, with our former monk

2/3--New Siam Guesthouse. This place never changes. Khao San Road will forever be locked in the 60's with a constant parade of foreigners from all over. Interestingly we have heard the Chinese now make up 13% of all tourists and are now the single largest group of foreigners. However, there are lots of hippie types (non Chinese) or wanna be hippies. This includes an old white guy, going bald, but with dyed red hair and a long white beard looking more or less like an Indian sadhu. Everyday we see him parading back and forth along the nearby alley. There are Euro's with little kids, and yes, even a bunch of us older folk, (excluding the sadhu), from various parts of the globe. We met two intrepid travelers from Vancouver, several years older than us. Joyce and Gordon have been all over, taking off for four months during the soggy winters of coastal BC. They have been to and trekked in Nepal several times, befriended a guide named Santa, and paid for his girls to go to school. They will leave for Pokhora in a few days after spending a month in Burma. They tell us the place is now lousy with tourists, prices have quadrupled, ATM's have appeared, and cell phones are ubiquitous. Luckily, the people are still the same, though I think we got there at the right time.

At night the nearby alley and surrounding streets here in Balimphoo become one big party scene with loud American rock and blues, outdoor restaurants and bars, and VERY crowded streets. It is quite a scene.






All's quiet in the morning





Our breakfast spot

The famous Mr. Yim, who makes various Thai veg curries for a buck

Yesterday, we went to see Wat Pho, a little further on the river taxi than the King's Palace, but a place we had never been. The enormous reclining Buddha was spectacular.

Although some 50 feet long, it is only possible to capture the head by itself







Statues on the grounds of Wat Pho

After wandering around a bit, we set off to look for a local sim card. That was an adventure, and we got somewhat lost on the way back. It was a success, in that we did find a card and then were able to call Derek at Chaing Mai Apartments, our next destination.

I won't bore you with too many details from this busy city since they can be found in an earlier post. Suffice it to say that we returned to Khao San Road, where, like Alice's Restaurant, you can get anything you want, literally. We spent an extra day recouping here, translate that to mean Nanette wanted a mani-pedi and a massage, all to be had for about 15 bucks. Despite the traffic and the heat, there are some interesting sights, most notably the King's Palace.

Detail From the Palace





Head of a Large Standing Buddha

Before long, we headed for the island of Ko Mak. Most of the better known beaches in Thailand, Phuket and Ko Samui for example, are in the south and require a plane ride or a VERY long bus ride to get to them. Ko Mak, not as well known as these or the nearby Ko Chang, is about 4 hours by bus to the north. It is a quiet place, mostly with young German and Swedish families, as well as some older couples like us. Perfect for lazing around for a week.

We managed to find a very nice bungalow right on the beach.

We spent our time reading, swimming, and eating various Thai fish curries at different restaurants, though we often didn't make it past the German run TK Hutte, right next door. Not only was the food good and cheap, but they also made mango and pineapple shakes that were even better when we brought them back to our place and added rum. We met an older (than us) German couple there who we have shared some meals with and long walks down the beach.


It is never crowded and usually the sea is very warm and calm.

So far we have not been able to motivate ourselves to check out another nearby island for what we are told is mediocre snorkeling. We did manage to find a beach side masseuse for another massage, and occasionally Nanette is moved to arrange shells and other collectibles.

Last night, Gerard, a Frenchman about our age, came over to borrow the Lonely Planet. He proceeded to tell us a good deal of his life story, which was interesting, although he talked rather too much about himself. After his second divorce, it seems he spent five years wandering and fucking around the Islamic parts of the Phillipines. He said it was a miracle he wasn't killed or didn't get aids. He then went to other parts of Southeast Asia for a few more years before ending up in Luang Prabang. Here he met his current wife, now in her early 30's. It is apparently illegal for Laotian women to hook up with foreign men, in contrast to Thailand where it seems to be the norm. Her family more or less disowned her, and the government threatened to arrest her. They went back to France, and now after several years, she has a French passport and they are going home for a visit with their seven year old son. I'm afraid that telling him we were shrinks, after he asked our occupation, only encouraged him to go on at greater length. We ran into him again in Laos under very different circumstances.

With some regrets, we managed to pull ourselves away from Ko Mak after a significant rainstorm seemed to signal a change of weather.