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Blogs from Northern Thailand, Thailand, Asia
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May 18th 2013
I spent the past few days volunteering at a women's shelter called wildflower home in Chiangmai Thailand. What a wonderful experience! This home is for single mothers who are pregnant or who have young children. A lot of the women are from hill tribes in the surrounding area and only a couple of them spoke minimal English. Some of the women end up in this home because they are in an abusive relationship, are pregnant and not married or both their husband's tribe and their own have rejected then. The home itself was built about 6 years ago by a couple from the USA. It is beautiful! There are many gardens where they grow a lot of vegetables and fruit as well as a small farm with pigs, ducks and chickens. They also make their own ... read more
May 15th 2013
I made it! Despite the air being so hot it makes me want to buy shares in a water company, the past couple of days have been great! Thanks goodness we 'splurged' (approx 5 extra bucks) to get an A/C room! Day 1 My wonderful friend Alex kept me busy. Our day started with a yummy breakfast at a place called 'good morning Chiangmai'. I highly recommend it to anyone planning to visit (Jaz, Tracy take note). We then rode her motorbike (so fun!) to the top of a mountain to see a temple. The beautiful views were short lived as I experienced my first of I'm sure many thunderstorms. On our way back down the mountain we stopped at a natural water slide made out of rock! A perfect way to cool off in this ... read more
This was my Backyard - The Country Road to Khao Nor and Khao Kaeo, Nakhon Sawan
Published: March 20th 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Nakhon Sawan
March 15th 2013
'Ten Baht,' said the rugged, heavy-set Thai woman sitting inside the rusty, caged snack shop, holding a two-meter long bamboo switch which she pointed toward the raving mad crowd gathered outside of her office. She took the stick and jabbed at one of the Macaques as it tried to wedge it's way between the worn metal cage and the wretched tin roof, cackling with one eye open and one shut as the boorish beasts looked on with a healthy dose of respect and indifference alike. She opened up the door and emerged from her self-imposed prison and tapped the seat of my motorbike with her stick before tapping the seat of a motorbike next to the cage which looked as if some great and ancient demon had torn through it with jaws of steel and then ... read more
March 5th 2013
Summary: Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong Green Inn Read more... The northern part of the country is really pretty surrounded by mountains the road is bordered by vast fields of lust green acreage that extends into a mountain range a really really gorgeous drive. The bus ride took a lot longer than expected, I get to Chiang Khong very very late in the evening. It is well after dark, I do have a great meal at a little local side restaurant store. I do start to wonder what on earth am I doing all the way out here on my own and what on earth is there to see all the out here in the north east of Thailand. More to follow soon guys... read more
From Chinese New Year to Valentines Day
Published: February 26th 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Nakhon Sawan
February 26th 2013
‘You ready?’ Pi Ying enquired as I sat, sweating and listening to the drilling sounds echoing around the tattoo shop. I looked down at the stencil on my leg; Ben had done a good job in drawing out the larger design of the Celtic gecko with its tail flicking up and around my shin. I had spent a good few nights thinking over whether I really wanted this good luck symbol inked onto my leg. I thought about looking at it in years to come, perhaps regretting my decision. Yet in all honesty it wasn’t the traditional meanings of good luck and regrowth that made me want to get it done. Simply, it would serve as a reminder of our house in Muang Samsip and the geckos who live on my windowsill. At night I hear ... read more
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Lahu tanfi, Laurinoval, 2013 Feb 10
Published: February 22nd 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Phayao
February 22nd 2013
Kedves Mindenki, egy gyors bejelentkezes ket kurzus kozott, az egyik legszebb tanfolyamrol, amin valaha is voltam... Laurino gyonyoruszep, mely energiaval, a bizonytalansagban is kiserletezokedvvel, elfogadassal, egyutterzessel tanitott, orom volt resztvenni es asszisztalni a kurzuson! A szokasos szeretetbuborek egy kedvesseg-tudatossagbuborekka alakult at ezen a tanfin, problema nelkul es hihetetlen jo vegmasszazsokkal zartuk a 11 napot. Flora jogaoraiert megvesztek, mindig volt a 32 diakbol legal;abb 15-20 jelen napfelkeltekor, a kapcsolatunk ujabb viszontagsagok utan megbeszelessel-megertessel majd lenyugvassal zajlott,nem konnyu korulmenyek kozott (32 diak, 11 tanito, zsufi es atjarohaz mindenhol...)de a tanfolyam melle egy kis kirandulas is belefert, amint a kepeken latjatok. Flora es Laurino fennmaradtak 3 napos vipasszana elvonulasra a kolostorban, jomagam lejottem a kurzus utan ... read more
January 23rd 2013
Woke up incredibly early on the 6th, the jet lag thing really messes you up but it actually worked out in our favour because it meant we could get the early train to Ayuthaya (our first stop on the way to Chiang Mai) and we made it to the island by midday. Tony's our guest house for the next 2 nights (recommended in the lonely planet guide) was amazing, more like a luxury room if you were on holiday. We were convinced to take a boat trip to visit the temples which surrounded the island, the mount and dismount of the river boat was certainly different, almost falling in the river on several occassions but luckily nothing came from it. The first temple stop Wat Phutthaisawan had a giant golden buddha inside. I hadn't seen anything ... read more
Hear the Birds Talkin' that Big Talk Down in Bung Boraphet, Nakhon Sawan
Published: January 18th 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Nakhon Sawan
January 18th 2013
The sun had yet to rise and in fact would not for quite some time as our motorbike convoy departed from the entrance to Sawan Park on our way to Thailand's grandest of swamps - Bung Boraphet as it's known among the locals - is the nation's largest wetlands and home to all sorts of migratory birds, endangered fish, beautiful plants and the lot. When my alarm went off at 5:30 am on a Saturday morning Tara and I were none too happy but I had only had a few beers the night before and felt alright so we drank down a liter or so of water along with some tea and oatmeal with some dried fruit and made our way out to meet with our friends. We felt none too wise for having lived in ... read more
now I know how they make the buddha statues
Published: January 14th 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Phitsanulok
January 14th 2013
The main reason I stopped in Phitsanulok, or Phi-lo, how it is called here, was that I needed reliable Internet access to work a bit. That is your destiny when you run your own company - sometimes you cannot avoid to work a bit even while travelling. But the trip has to be paid nonetheless. But after a long evening and a short night I was ready to look around the city a bit. In the morning I got some cheap fresh fruits from a stand near the hotel and started with a visit of the folk museum. I am not so much into museums but this one was quite interesting which lots of information about live and work of the "old" thais. I highly recommended it! I continued with a stop at the Buddha Casting ... read more
Where is the hotel, where am I and how can we get to the lake? Anyone can speak english? No, no, no...
Published: January 12th 2013Asia » Thailand » Northern Thailand » Nakhon Sawan
January 10th 2013
After a short train journey of a bit more than 3 hours from Ayutthaya I arrived in Nakhon Sawan. The train station is about 6 ks out of town. The minute I stepped out of the train I was surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers selling expensive rides to town. I decided to take a songthaews together with some locals which turned out much cheaper. Well, I did not have a map nor did I know where my hotel was which I had booked the night before. So it was difficult to know where to get of the songthaew. Nakhon Sawan is rarely visited by tourists. And no tourists - no maps - and no english. This city seems to be fun for me ;-). On the songtaew I got to know Sonja, a german traveller. But she ... read more
