Blogs from Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 340

Chiang Mai had been variously described as an Amsterdam of the north, a seat of cultural learning, or a mini Bangkok with Wats (Buddhist temples) on every street corner. "There's a million Wats in this town" said Linda, reading the guidebook. "Is that a MegaWat?" asked Steve, getting a kick in the shin for his efforts. We spent a delightful few days in the city enjoying all of the above and more. The moat that surrounds the old town is particularly charming at night when the colourful lights of the hostess bars and restaurants lining it are reflected in it's murky waters. Being constructed largely on a grid system meant that there were plenty of street corners on which to find the famed Wats. Our favourite was Doi Suthep which was a little outside town nestling ... read more

Today the whole group visited an elephant camp where we were able to see an elephant show and ride them through the jungle!! The whole situation was absolutely amazing and I had to keep reminding myself that I was on an elephant in Thailand, what an unforgettable experience! The group that had gone on the trek for the weekend had ridden an elephant before, but it is a really peaceful time and it was great to do it all as a group. The jungle was so beautiful and I felt like I was at home (Washington) because of all of the green. After the elephant ride we went rafting down a river for an hour, the raft was made out of long bamboo poles. The guides make it look so easy to steer the boat, with ... read more

After a full weekend and a long Tuesday of teaching, activities, and/or lectures, we are back into the swing of things. Those of us who got sick over the weekend are resting and recuperating. We are all arriving over the hump of the trip tired and a little worn down, but the promise of the beach next week keeps us going. The education group has had a wild time facilitating English camps at some area schools: teaching 4th through 7th graders English through oral mimicking, visuals, songs, and games. Yesterday was a challenging experience with unprepared students and school administrators, while at today’s school, the administrators and teachers were much more supportive of our activities. In teaching the students English, we find ourselves returning to many old nursery rhymes and camp songs like “Old McDonald had ... read more

We really love it here in Chaing Mai, we feel like we could stay for months. It is a charming and relaxed city with great food and lots of friendly travellers to socialize with. It is also quite a bit cheaper and cooler (in temperature) than Bangkok. It is a moated and walled city on the inside where most of the activity takes place. After recovering from our train ride we set out to explore. We stumbled upon a very small local-looking celebration just inside one of the main gates. It consisted of mostly women dancing in thai dress, although there were a few men. The music was provided by a live band. Some of the women were clearly indulging in some sort of substance, perhaps beer or alcohol, but more likely the source of the ... read more

Well, we have been in Thailand for a month now (and away for 65 days!) and have worked our way up to Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. Second in size to Bangkok, although they share no other features at all! The old city of CM (where we live) is a neat square bounded by moats and remants of a medieval style wall rasied 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. Although a million tuk tuks circumnavigate the old city, narrow bricked soi (lanes) branch off into a sleepy quiet village of fruit tree gardens, dusty school yards, pushcarts and slow easy smiles. Very quaint and cool in every sense of the word! The climate is more forgiving (at night anyway). bookshops predominate instead of glitzy shopping centres and the regions unique cultural heritage is worn ... read more