Blogs from Mae Sai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

After a good nights sleep I popped out for some breakfast before being picked up at 08.30 for a days sight seeing. Only me and a couple from south Korea would be on the tour today so lots of room to stretch out on the minibus. Our first stop was to the white temple ( the main attraction in Chiang rai) built in the 1980's by a rather eccentric local artist. The temple and its grounds are completely white with fragments of glass which reflect the sun, so the whole place is quite dazzling. Inside the temple are modern murals of everything from mickey mouse to Micheal Jackson to the collapse of the world trade centres - with of course the Buddha in the centre. The temple is very different to anything I was expecting and ... read more

This was an incredible day, busy, but definitely one for the memory of a lifetime books. We drove up to Mae Sai, a town on the border with Myannmar (still called Burma here). Our guide helped us fast track across the border for a few hours of sightseeing. It was raining more today than any other day, but none of us going to Myannmar cared. ( I'll still never get the people that choose to stay in Mae Sai shopping). We rode motorized rickshaws around town, mud, ruts and all, but it was great fun. We stopped to talk to local family and visit a school, although we couldn't go in, but did learn about the education which is not compulsory and children from the hill tribes are brought down for school at the government's expense. ... read more

January 19, 2012 - The Golden Triangle - Chiang Mai en route to Chiang Rai I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and did my best to catch up with what our tour guide was saying from the passenger seat. My spot in the back of the 15-passenger van was getting cramped. The Englishman in front of me decided to move his seat back as far as possible while I was sleeping. It was probably out of spite because of a comment I'd made to his girlfriend earlier in the trip. It was just too hard to keep my comments under control because I just couldn't believe my ears. She was actually chastising our tour guide because her seat didn't have a seatbelt. After refusing my offer to switch seats, she continued to detail the importance ... read more

Doi Tung is the current King of Thailand's (King Rama IX) mother's summer palace and gardens. She lived from 1900-1995 and was born a commoner who through fortunate circumstances became well educated during her youth, a nurse, and winner of the Queen's scholarship to study in America. She met a Thai young man in Connecticut who cared for the people of Thailand and the environment as much as she. They fell in love and this man decided to marry her. He was Prince Mahidol - the son of the King of Thailand. They married in 1920 and had 3 children (1 daughter, 2 sons). Prince Mahidol's brother became King of Thailand (King Rama VII) and Prince Mahidol and his family lived in Boston and Switzerland and traveled between Thailand & Europe. Prince Mahidol received his doctorate ... read more

Dear Readers - We flew out of Luang Prabang on Lao Airlines for Chiang Mai, Thailand at which point we hired a car and driver for transportation to Chiang Rai. The driver, Pasa Ratananont, had spent several years in California so spoke good English and turned out to be an excellent tour guide. If anyone is interested in a private sightseeing tour, call him at 081-8840771 or email at pasa_rata@hotmail.com. His car is a new Toyota sedan. Upon arrival at our hotel in Chiang Rai we immediately went to bed as we needed to recover from activities of the last two weeks. We didn't do too much in the city but the day we left, we again hired Mr. Ratananont to take us to the border at Mai Sai. We went to the northern most point ... read more