Blogs from Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 359

Hello again! Not alot of time to write anything as we are off to the Chang Mai Zoo to check out the Pandas. Spent the last two days on a Hillside trek, pretty cool, but also pretty exhausting. Saw our first huge cockroach last night in the bathroom and made the huge mistake of showing it to Serena. Not alot of sleep last night to say the least!!!!!!! So, hopefully these pics worked and we'll post again once we get to Phuket tomorrow.... read more

Hello all! Well, for those of you that read Chris "Iceman" McEwen's posts, you may be disappointed by mine. We have had our own unique Thailand experiences already, but nothing like the bad luck that guy has had. Hope you made it home alright buddy, we'll catch up to you in a few weeks. And thanks for the help the first few days.........you should see this guy......he runs this place. Anyways, on to our stories. When we first got off the plane after our 24hr trip, the heat and pollution were totally overwhelming. I have never felt anything quite like this, it is hard to breath and makes your eyes burn. Bangkok is absolute chaos and can only be handled for so long. We met up with Ice and April right off the plane at a ... read more

Nou mensen, donderdag was het zover hoor. Het thema van de dag zou zijn: olifanten. ’s Morgens vroeg vertrokken we met de bus, om 60 km boven Chiang Mai in de jungle te arriveren. Daar bevond zich het olifantenkamp. Er werd van te voren verteld dat iedere olifant zijn eigen vaste trainer heeft, en dat als deze man een keer ziek is ofzo de betreffende olifant ook gelijk niks meer doet. Verder mochten we absoluut niet bij olifanten in de buurt komen waar de begeleider niet bij aanwezig was. Het begon met een eerste kennismaking. We mochten tussen de olifanten door lopen en die lieten allerlei kunstjes zien. Je mocht op hun rug of slurf zitten, of twee olifanten samen vormden met hun slurven een soort stoeltje waar je op kon zitten. Je kan zeggen wat ... read more

Vandaag gingen we opweg naar Chiang Mai waar we drie dagen zullen blijven. Naast de diverse plasstops onderweg, hebben we aantal plaatsen bezocht waar men demonstreerden hoe op traditionele wijze bepaalde producten gemaakt worden. Dingen als een weverij, zilver bewerken, edelstenen/sierraden maken, etc.... Morgen gaat het gebeuren...... Olifant rijden!!!! Ik (we? :-) ) houd mijn hart vast!!!!!!!!!!! ... read more

Chang Mai and the Thai New Year celebration After a really enjoyable time in Bangkok, I decided to head up north to a city called Change Mai. Change Mai is known for its trekking to remote Thai villages, elephant rides, cooking classes, and other things of that sort. But my main reason for going was to celebrate the Thai New Year; which is also known as Songkran. Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck So basically what ends up happening is a HUGE CITY WIDE WATER FIGHT. And man, it sure is fun….or a day or two….when you are ready ... read more