Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 481

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 22nd 2005

hey there folks, another marc and claire update.... today we are mostly feeling very very relaxed, we have left the big big cities behind to travel up to northern thailand where we are living the life, this afternoon was spent mostly eating gorgeous thai food and then experiencing a two hour herbal steam room and thai massge, all for the grand sum of about 4 squid! is really good to kick back and relax after doing so much moving around so think we'll stay here for a few days. going to go and get a nature fix tomorrow up in the mountains, marc cant wait to hug some trees! only annoying thing is that the mozzies seem to have taken a liking to the taste of my blood, got a gross blister on my leg from ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand November 21st 2005

Well folks we finaly got off and here we are in Chiang Mai. (Sorry we can't send any piccies yet but the computer won't download from our camera. Don't worry, you'll soon be bored ****less when we can send them). Anyway, we arrived in Bangkok late afteroon on the 15th and found it to be as scruffy a city as either of us has ever seen. Stayed at a place called the Atlanta, which was a real throwback and quite basic, (actually it gets upgraded to basic next year) but it had a great atmosphere and was clean. The restaurant there was superb too and the prices unbelievable. Visited the Grand Palace, did a river cruise and went to a local culture show at a place called the Rose Garden. Traffic horrendous, place a filthy concrete ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 21st 2005

This was a fantastic day. I pet the tongue of a 3-month old elephant and rode on an older elephant's trunk! We got up close and personal with Asian elephants at the Mae Ping elephant camp. I have the t-shirt to prove it. The elephant is the most revered animal in Thailand and although its numbers have dwindled in the past 50 years, aggressive conservation efforts are making a difference. These camps provide a sanctuary for the elephants, who otherwise would not have enough forest land to roam. After feeding bananas and bamboo to the elephants, we watched as the mahoots (elephant drivers) bathed the elephants in the river, then led them through a series of tricks. One of the tricks was to have two elephants entwine their trunks. A volunteer - that would be me ... read more
The baby 2
The baby 3
Elephants

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Rai November 21st 2005

An easy bus ride from Chiang Mai brought us to another great Northern Thai city, Chiang Rai. We arrived mid-afternoon and after some minor hunting arrived at Ben's Guesthouse, a lovely old teak structure with intriquicately carved eaves. While having a beer in the garden, we were very lucky to meet a young expat from Chicago, Carrie, who lived at a neighboring residence. She had been living in Thailand for a year or so and had done some travel to Laos, peaking our interest as the locale was next on our itinerary. Her greatest wish was to visit the Bokeo Nature Reserve and partake of the Gibbon Experience. A well-loved and slightly tattered brochure was given to us and we saw about setting up an excursion. More about that later. By foot, we cruised into town ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai November 21st 2005

Leaving Chiang Mai, we headed into the mountains to a small village called Pai. Having two travel choices, a public government bus which is basically an old school bus, or spend a bit more and ride in an air conditioned minivan; much more comfortable, plus the minivan will pick you up at your hotel. It was 3 hours of 2 lane, winding mountain roads with great scenery. Once we started to climb, the AC couldn’t be used because they needed the power for going up the hills. Pai is a small town/village which is a popular spot for mountain trekking, hiking, elephant safaris and such. It has a “laid-back” attitude and consists of a younger, hippie crowd. Lots of small restaurants, guest houses ($5 per night), motorcycle rental shops and travel/trekking agencies, surrounded by rice paddies, ... read more
Hotel in Pai
Streets in Pai
Streets of Pai

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 21st 2005

OP-Tag, eine große OP an einem jungen Mann aus einem Motorradunfall, der Gesichtsschädel war so gut wie komplett zertrümmert, also eine lange und aufreibende OP, aber in allem ist es immer wieder erstaunlich, was plastische Chirurgen so alles draufhaben. Nach der OP bin ich wieder nach Hause, dort umgezogen und etwas gegessen. Nachdem ich endlich meinen Jeansmantel in Auftrag gegeben habe, der wurde mir ja in Spanien geklaut, und ziemlich viel Zeichenarbeit (ich hätte doch Design studieren sollen, das macht echt Spaß) haben die auch kapiert, wie ich den haben will. Bin gespannt, wie das am Donnerstag nach der ersten Anprobe aussieht. Aber für 80 Euro einen maßgeschneiderten Mantel zu bekommen ist schon eine gute Aussicht. Nach ein paar Stunden an meiner Doktorarbeit bin ich dann mit Jesper in einem Guesthouse um die Ecke essen gewesen, ... read more
OP Kantine
OP Kantine

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 21st 2005

In Thailand, as in many other parts of Southeast Asia, the feet are considered the lowest or the most unholy part of the body. It is extremely rude to point your feet at people, and common practice to remove shoes and sandals when entering into homes, shops and temples. After three months of trekking and traveling and general neglect, our feet were pushing the limits of acceptable in any country - regardless of attitudes toward the sanctity of the foot. As I’ve entailed above my travel worn feet were by themselves enough to get a second look on the streets of Thailand. However, as if the foot gods were laughing at me I’d managed to acquire fresh new blisters in Bangkok and was wearing a small patch of pavement that I’d picked up in an unfortunate ... read more
Girls in the Parade
Lady Selling Bamboo Floats
Laterns in the Night

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 20th 2005

Hi all! Long time no blog. We have just been having so much fun, we haven't taken the time to stop and keep y'all updated. But we'll try to catch back up. Sorry no photos again- devices just don't always want to communicate with each other. Damn Windows! Anyhow... After a night in Ayutthaya and a day viewing the ruins, we took Doug's (wise) advice, we opted for an overnight train out of Ayutthaya heading north. This proved quite efficient as we were able to travel 12 hours while sleeping, allowing us to save a night's accommodation and not waste any days. As we'd had a late night playing pool the night before, we (surprisingly!) didn't hit the bar car which was full of Germans newly on break. They were singing and having a grand time, ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 20th 2005

Today we left our lovely resort in Chiang Rai and made our way through the forested hills to Chiang Mai, a much larger city, but still a speck on the map compared to Bangkok. We stopped by Nanglae, a pineapple producing village, where we saw pineapple fields and the paper products made from pineapple leaf pulp. Pineapple is a lucrative crop for Thailand. The homes in this village were all very nice. Next, we visited the beautiful white Wat Rong Kuhn temple. This was truly spellbinding. The temple is like a glittering ice castle - all white, with intense ornamentation and all sparkling with little mirror chips. It was like something out of a dream. Amazingly, the architect of the temple, Mr. Chalermchai, was there. This is like visiting the Sistine Chapel and having Michaelangelo show ... read more
Typical Home in Pineapple Town
Pineapple Pulp
Wat Rong Khun

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 20th 2005

Heute habe ich bis ca. 13 Uhr in Bett gelegen, gelesen, dann kurz gefrühstückt und mich dann an den Rechner gesetzt, meine Doktorarbeit ist ja schließlich auch wirklich Arbeit, und die soll ja im nächsten Jahr mit Abschluß des Studiums auch fertig werden. So habe ich also den Tag über Literatur gelesen, und ein wenig getippt. Abends dann essen gewesen, mit Jeremy ein bißchen Billiard gespielt, mit Myriam telephoniert und nun gehe ich schlafen. Arbeitsreicher Tag also, nichts neues zu berichten. Die letzten beiden Wochen sind angebrochen, nächstes Wochenende will ich wohl mit Jeremy nach Pai fahren, ein kleines Bergdorf im Nordwesten, was aber sehr schön sein soll. Also ist das letzte Wochenende, bevor Myriam endlich da ist, so gut wie verplant. Ich halte Euch auf dem Laufenden, bis denn dann…... read more




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