Tales from the Trail

Well after spending a few more weeks in London than originally planned, I finally made it to Thailand. I flew to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand after arriving in Bangkok airport earlier in the day. I’m in no rush to make it to Bangkok city, so it can wait for another day.

To be honest it took me a few days to settle into Thailand after London. My main reason to come to Chiang Mai was to get my Indian visa processed. That in itself was a great introduction to Indian bureaucracy, but that’s another story, however I finally picked it up this morning, and fly to New Dehli on Christmas Day. Not sure if it’s going to be good Christmas present or not, but fingers crossed!

Here are a few photos of Chiang Mai.

One of the many temples around Chiang Mai

Inside one of the temples

Outside one of the temples

Student monks

To be honest, Chiang Rai was a lot busier than I had expected. I took a bus a few hours further north to Chiang Rai – this is more laid back and more what I thought Chiang Mai would be like. I settled in quite well for a few days and was made to feel like part of the family at the guesthouse where I was staying. Despite little english, I often ate lunch or dinner with them, sharing the family meal. It was also my first introduction to a lady-boy “Kate” who was part of the family.

Catching a local bus. I sat next to a very friendly and well fed monk. The back door of the bus was permanently kept open with an octopus strap.

Wat Rong Khun (or the White Temple). This unusual temple was only built by a local artist in 1997 and is still being added to. It’s quite impressive, if somewhat unusual. You pass over a bridge with images of hell underneath. Inside, the paintings refer to modern events and characters. Some of the ones that I spotted was spiderman, Harry Potter, Neo from the Matrix, as well as the 9/11 twin towers. Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside the temple.

Walking over the hands of hell before you enter the temple.

Towards the entrance of the temple.

I hired a motorbike and rode a round trip of about 150kms up to the Golden Triangle on the Myanmar border. For anyone that knows my sense of direction, I was somewhat apprehensive about getting lost, but in the end all was OK. Mind you, it was very cold, even for this time of year, and even with four layers of clothing on.

A tea plantation I stopped at during the ride.

Market stalls in Chiang Rai

The annual flower parade.

At times the parade seemed more like Mardi Gras that a flower festival

More colour and costumes

The centaurs

Back in Chiang Mai, I spent a great day on an elephant safari. I got to ride an elephant bareback which was a little more difficult than what I expected, especially going downhill. After the ride, we scrubbed the elephants in the river and I even got to stand up on the back of one. A really good day.

Feeding the elephant

Getting up close