Sawatdee Thailand

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We made it home, but thought we'd do a quick entry to share a few last photos and updates.


After leaving Chiang Mai we headed south and west to Mae Sot, a small town bordering Myanmar (aka Burma). The town has no real tourist attractions of its own. A few travellers come to Mae Sot to cross the border into Myanmar and then return to Thailand to obtain an automatic Thai visa renewal, or to work in one of the dozen Burmese refugee camps than line the Thai side of the border. We had planned only a few days' stop to update our visas, and to visit a sanctuary for orphaned and injured gibbons. We updated our visas in short order and then spent the rest of the day wandering around the markets and narrow streets of the town.



The following day, the 29th, we awoke to the sounds of clashing symbols and firecrackers...to discover that it was Chinese New Year! There seemed to be at least half a dozen bands, each with their own Chinese dragon carried by about 20 boys. Many of the stores and houses had long chains of firecrackers hung from their front doors, and these were set off as each dragon troupe came around and danced in front of the building. All of the streets were decorated with huge yellow banners and red lanterns. Everywhere we went there was music, altars draped in red, and firecrackers, or piles of red paper left over from what had been firecrackers. It was an intriguing way to see the little town, and to spend a holiday which usually doesn't register much in our lives at home.




Later that afternoon, we visited the Highland Gibbon Sanctuary, about 40kms outside of Mae Sot. Pharanee, a lovely Thai lady, runs the sanctuary, accepting and caring for dozens of gibbons who cannot be released into the wild. Some were abandoned when they grew too large to be family pets and others were rescued after their parents were shot by hunters. As the only visitors to the Sanctuary that afternoon, we were lucky enough to be able to help feed some of the gibbons, and to spend about half an hour with the babies. Anyone planning on visiting Thailand should check out the Sanctuary website at http://www.highland-farm.org/, or contact them by email at [e-mail]. We wished that we had been able to stay for a few days as volunteers, but added it to our list of things to do next time. That night, after a last look around Mae Sot, we boarded a night bus to head back to Bangkok for our last day in Thailand.



With only one day left, we were determined to make the best of our sightseeing in Bangkok. We visited Wat Traimit, which houses the largest solid gold Buddha in the world, weighing over 5.5 tons and worth millions of dollars. Unfortunately, our timing for seeing the Buddha itself wasn't good, as a huge new building had been constructed for the Buddha, but had yet to be officially opened by the King. Next, we visited Wat Arun, the "Temple of Dawn", which is decorated with hundreds of ceramic pieces, many of which were once bowls and plates imported from China and then used in the decoration of the temple in the 1700s. Later we walked through the cramped alleyways of Chinatown, checking out the goods for sale and trying to make our way through the huge crowds. Finally, we wandered through one of the flower markets lining the canal, and then headed back to our hotel to get ready to go to the airport. Until next time, Thailand....

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Photos

Dragon band in Mae Sot
Happy Chinese New Year!

Alison with the baby gibbon
Hmm...this isn't so hard

Wat Arun
Bangkok's "Temple of Dawn"

Chinatown, Bangkok
A view down the narrow Kampaeng Alley

Comments

[alicia]

welcome home!
did you happen to sneak one of the baby gibbons home with you? so cute!