If you remember, last time I left Mae Hong Son just before the end of the last ceremony to try to be on time for the next festival: another novice ordination in Sri Satchanalai, close to Sukkotai in the center of Thailand. After a bus from Mae Hong Son to Chang Mai, from Chang Mai to Sukkotai then from Sukkotai to Sri Satchanalai... all that in 24 hours, I finally arrived, late for the morning celebration, but on time for the procession of the afternoon. This time the future novices were from all age, the celebration was just for one day and instead of being carrying by men, they were wondering around on elephant's back. The novice were wearing bright and colorful clothes and some quite huge sun glasses. That was a bit peculiar, but why ... read more

On the 9th and 10th of April, an extraordinary and rare event happened in Bangkok, and once again I was lucky enough to be there. It was the cremation of the Royal Highness Princess Bajaratana. The princess was the first cousin of the actual king Bhumibol Adulyadej. Her full name was: Somdej Chao Fah Bejaratana Rajasuda (Royal Lady with the beauty of a Diamond) Sirisobhabannavadi (the birth that is abundant in auspice).(I will never remember all that!) She was recognized for her work dedicated to the nation and its people. She often represented the King and the Queen at many official functions and was appreciated for the goodness of her heart, her profound interest in Buddhism and her love of the Thai language. She passed away at the age of 85 on the 27 July 2011. ... read more

Hello, Last time I told you about the Muay Thai festival in Ayutthaya, but there are other things to do there. This is the place where you can discover some wonderful old temples. The town was founded around 1350. Throughout the centuries, the ideal location between China, India and the Malay Archipelago made Ayutthaya the trading capital of Asia. By 1700 Ayutthaya had become one of the largest city in the world with a total of 1 million inhabitants. Many international merchants set sail for Ayutthaya, from diverse regions as the Arab world, China, India, Japan, Portugal, the Netherlands and France. Merchants from Europe proclaimed Ayutthaya as the finest city they had ever seen. All this came to a quick end when the Burmese invaded Ayutthaya in 1767 and almost completely burnt the city down to ... read more

Hello, This post will be a short one about the kite festival I've been in Cha Am, a town 2 hours south of Bangkok. What to say? It was a kite festival, with a lot of beautiful kites and really nice people. It lasted 3 days and I enjoyed every moment of it. I met a French team there, really nice, with beautiful kites. Everybody was really friendly and I had a lot of fun. The opening ceremony was really enjoyable with dancers. colors, music... a really good moment. I enjoyed watching the traditional kite fighting: this is between a small kite (but fast), the Pakpao and a big kite (stronger but slowlier), the Chula. The goal is to catch the other kite and to bring it down. This is funny to watch and the teams ... read more

Sawadi Ka, After Cambodia, I decided to go to Thailand, the country of smile! And it's true, Thai people are really smiling and friendly. I arrived in Bangkok. I'm not usually a big town girl, but I did enjoy Bangkok a lot. There is a lot to see and the atmosphere in the town is nice. The first things that surprised me was the fact that there are more cars than motorbikes! After 2 months in Vietnam and 1 in Cambodia, I was used to deal more with motorbike! The town is definitely not as crazy as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh or Phnom Penh. As I said, there are lot of things to do in Bangkok: lots of temples, markets, lots of place to walk around, cruise on the Chao Phraya river to admire the city ... read more