Same Same but Different

We landed in Bangkok and for those that have been there before you know that you must fasten your seat belt from the moment you step out of the airport. The taxi drivers here drive like mad, in fact its best not to look out the windshield as they dodge in and out of traffic at 120km crossing (4) lanes of traffic without batting an eye. Once out of the taxi and counting your lucky stars, one finds themself asking the question - Why are there no Formula 1 Champions from Thailand? It wasn't our first time in Bangkok so we were mentally prepared as much as one could be, to travel at worp speed from the get go but the reality of actually travelling at that speed is nerve racking when done from the back seat of the car. At one stage I swear that we were able to see what CD was being played in the car infront of us!

For some, Bangkok is known as the "brothel" of the world, for others its the land of incredible food, massages and smiles. During this visit to BK we did not venture into Patpong nor did we ride in any Tuk Tuks, making this visit less sexy and polluted. We stayed (4) nights at the Thai Cozy House - 900B for a private room with a/c and bathroom, great location just off of Khao San Rd, with access to hundreds of street food stalls, restaurants, cheap cheap internet cafes & massages. Our stay in Bangkok went by fast and can be summed up like this; massages, pedicures, manicures, facials, humidity and spicy!! We also got our Vietnam visa done in the same day by going straight to the Vietnam Embassy. Oops! forgot about the haircuts - I had a transvestee cut my hair, made my normal dull 10 minutes in a chair rather entertaining. As for Isabel, she decided to go higher end (Toni & Guy) which unfortunately resulted in a botch job - oh well it will grow back within the next (6) months!

After recharging our batteries in Bangkok we took a (1)hr flight to Chiang Mai. Why we haven't been here before we don't know, but it is awesome. A lot different than Bangkok and the Southern Islands. The air is fresh, the traffic isn't that bad and riding around on scooters provided us with that independent travel that we love. We stayed (3) nights at the 3 Sis Guesthouse and (3) nights at the Sri Pat Guest House. Both places were 900B, excellent, clean, friendly and close to the action. During our time here we visited the morning markets for freshly sliced pineapple, mangos and bananas. The afternoons were spent scooting around to various temples/wats and stopping for a fruitshake here and there. As far as dinner and lunch goes, we ate and ate and ate. Seafood was our main stay and infact we went to the same restaurant for dinner (3) nights in a row - their stir fry squid in garlic and chilli sauce was to die for. For (3) big dishes and (2) 750ml bottles of beer the cost was less than $10USD! Unfortunately the restaurant's name is in Thai characters so we can't provide the name to you, but needless to say there were very few gringos frequenting this establishment.

Chiang Mai must be close to having the world's record for the most tourist and tour agencies per square foot in the world. Everywhere you look there is an agency. As most people do when visiting this region of Thailand, we took a Thai cooking course which was a lot of fun - The Masters Thai Chef Cookery Course. In addition we also did a (1) day Hill Tribe tour taking in (5) villages. At first we were very skeptical in doing any type of Hill Tribe tour due to the fact that these tours tend to overload the villages with gringos just there to snap away and overrun the place - often leaving the places feeling like the villagers are like animals in a zoo. We were very lucky, at all (5) villages that we visited we were the only gringos - just (6) of us. We spent a little over an hour at each village, allowing us to go on our own and talk to the children and women one-on-one which was excellent. Both of us really took advantage of the personal time with the children and women at each village. The Long Neck and Long Ear tribes are definitely the most popular and unique tribes and we were very lucky to spend a good 1 1/2hrs at each, allowing us to learn all the childrens names, ages as well as speak to their moms. We had a hard time convincing this one lady, age 37 that she was not old and was very beautiful - she did infact look about 60, but that's what living a harsh life does to you! The women and children were very young, the men were in the fields working, and the reason for that is these people have had to walk from Burma to Thailand, at minimium a (5) day walk - not something an elderly person is advised to attempt. All these villagers are considered refugees by the Thai Gov't, although the children born in Thailand are given Thai citizenship.

For a chance of pace we headed out to the Royal Ratchaphruek Flora 2006 Expo, which has been put together for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's Accession to the throne in 2006 and His Majesty's 80th birthday Anniversary in 2007. The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek is one of the most grandeur celebrations in Thai history and is the first international horticultural expositions. The highlight was the orchid pavillion - hence the number of pics.

Well that's a rap from Northern Thailand. We will be heading to Southern Thailand after our stints in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Tomorrow we are heading to Luang Prabang, Loas where we hope to chill out and spend some time with Monks..........

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