New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai

Fireworks from all directions, thousands of big paper lanterns fueled by carosene soaked rings of fire floating up to the sky carrying wishes for a blessed new year, millions of people crowded into the streets of the old walled city, now closed to traffic, restaurants blarring music, an official festival in the middle of the center near the Tha Phae gate to the city with live music, a food market and hundreds of souvenier stalls, this is just a slice of what Chiang Mai looks like for New Years. We rang the New Year in with a treat - Mexican burritos for dinner. (I had to have some chips and salsa as I am an addict - there I admit it - and I am having severe withdrawals. But as you might suspect they were just not the same. I think the chips were made from egg noodles!)

Then we just aimlessly wandered the streets, a bit mesmerized by the paper lanterns in the sky and the vast river of people ebbing and flowing alongside the real river. Although we felt bad about the environmental impact of all these lanterns - they have to land somewhere when the flame goes out and then they essentially are trash - we got caught up in the moment and we too sent up a lantern in hopes of obtaining good luck for our trip and for our family and friends in the New Year. (The lantern concept comes from an old tradition where seasonally similar lanterns were sent up to the sky seeking blessings from the Gods who would bring rains for the rice crops.)

Happy New Year to you all - may the new year keep you in good health, bring you happiness, love and laughter, and may we all find economic and political stability through-out the world.

Crazy Americans Join MotorScooter Crowd in Chiang Mai

Well it didn't take us to long to jump right in and join the crowds of crazy motorscooter drivers. We rented a little 150cc scooter from a Dutch man named Yan for a mere $2.00 for 24 hours ... no that is not a typo. In no time we were flowing with the traffic and heading out to Doi Suthep, which is one of north Thailand's most sacred temple. The story goes something like this: the site was chosen by an honored Buddha mounted on a the back of a white elephant which wandered until it stopped and died on Doi Suthep. This is a big Thai tourist location for watching the sunset in addition to worshiping at the temple. For us, the most interesting part was the windy road up to the temple. We are still not sure why there is white line on the road as no one really seems to consider it a lane divider. To add to the excitement John had to remember to drive on the left side of the road. Always an adventure!
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Wats of Chiang Mai

We spent the day roaming the city, visiting various Wats, people watching, and of course, eating at the local markets. This one was actually at the temple itself and was very colorful.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a national treasure - a cultural symbol of nationhood (to quote the guide). This explains why during this holiday week the place is jam packed - guesthouses are full, trains are booked and there are crowds everywhere. We arrived after the weekend on the night of the 29th after a long, rock-n-rattling 10 hour train ride. We were not able to get an overnight train so were had to endure the ride wide-awake, naseua knocking on the door continuously. We have quickly discovered that we both get motion sickness quickly. I was prepared with crackers and dramine. Reading is out of the question so to pass some of the time we watched the last 2 movies we had stored on the IPOD. I'm sure the other passengers were wondering what we were laughing about as we watched Zohan on a 2"x4" screen.

We stayed at the Top North Guesthouse. Not anything special, simple room, holes in the concrete, mold in the bathroom, but big enough for a family of 4 and with air-conditioning (a benefit at night) all for 500 baht - the equivalent of 17 dollars. (That is for all nights but the first. We had our first experience of being overcharged by someone who books a room for you. We paid 800 baht in Bangkok for this room that when booked at the door cost 500. We also figured out we almost paid double for the train ticket bought from the same agent. Oh well - live and learn.). We spent our first day looking for a new guesthouse and getting oriented to the city which turned out to be much bigger than we expected.  After looking at many places we decided to just stay where we were - simply because we got lazy.

Pink Wheelies

Ayuthaya is the site of numerous historic temples which are scattered around the city so we decide the best way to view them is by bicycle. Pink cruisers to be exact.

We spent the day peddling between Wats, snapping away pictures of temples, and popping a few wheelies for good measure. Wat Mahathat (famously known for the Buddha head encased in tree roots), Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Phra Sisanphot, Wihara Phra Mongkon Bophit, Wat Chai Catamaran - just to name a few of the temples we visited. The most interesting of course were the ones we just happened upon while riding our pink peddles.

After a hard day of temple viewing we deservedly enjoyed a few beers on our riverside deck and watched the river activity - boats full of karaoke singers partying it up and tugboats pulling amazing barges - an interesting combination.

Ayuthaya - Unesco World Heritage Site

A short two hour train ride from Bangkok brings you to the Unesco World Heritage site of Ayuthaya the prior Thai capital which is encircled by rivers. We settled into a room at the Bann Kun Pra - a beautiful teak house on the riverfront with quaint rooms decorated with antiques, a large open balcony overlooking the river, friendly staff and an excellent riverside café. I loved this place! It was exactly what I had hoped to stay in while in Thailand and it was only 600 baht a night (about 17 dollars a night). 

Our first night in town we were aimlessly wandering the streets and we happened upon an amazing, let me repeat, AMAZING, night market. Unlike the Bangkok food markets we had seen, this market was not really frequented by tourists, in fact we could have counted on one hand how many other farangs (tourists) we saw there. We strolled through the entire length of the market, keeping an eye out for what we might want to try. Then we made our way back through the ever-growing crowd and started to order.

Communication was difficult here, as no one spoke English, but with some pointing and head nods, or shaking to imply “no” for those strange meats, I was able to order these delicious fresh spring rolls - the best I have had so far in Thailand. 


We ordered some pad thai, served in a banana leaf wrapped in newspaper, some potstickers and other dim sum type samplers along with some mango and sticky rice for dessert for John and found a seat at a small table behind the food stalls. What a find! Today has been a lucky day, the first hotel we look out far exceeds our expectations and then we find this unique and tasty market. I’m enjoying the move to Ayuthaya already. 

Pit Stop before Heading North

We were ready to head north and we wanted a place centrally located where we could leave a bag behind and easily retrieve it on our way south again in February. We thought the Sukhumvit area would be more centrally located to transportation as it was on the Skytrain route, but as it turned out it was no more convenient than Kho San Road for the train station. We stayed at the historic Atlanta hotel, down a seemingly quiet street in an area lined with bigger hotels like the Marriot. Of course, this was the also the red-light district. There were plenty of available girls on Kho San Road but here the “availability” was a little more blatant and the girls were dressed a little more “provocative” shall we say. It was very interesting to see how accepted this profession was in a culture where it was thought of as disrespectful to have bare shoulders or shorts or a skirt above the knee when visiting a temple or Wat. Of course the fact that several major hotels catering to business clients are located conveniently in the red light district was a tad disturbing. 

Our hotel, the Atlanta (which had a prominent sign SEX TOURIST NOT WELCOME”) had a beautiful old lobby with an art deco flair. The rooms were nothing special, but the staff was friendly and they agreed to keep our bag for 2 months. Hopefully it will be there when we return as we are both leaving behind our hiking shoes and John is opting to leave behind his sleeping bag as we don’t expect too many cold locations as we make a loop around SE Asia. We had hoped to get overnight train tickets here heading north to Chiang Mai and starting our big loop of SE Asia, but the holidays have thrown a wrench into our plans - no train tickets available and the embassy is closed for a week so we cannot get our Vietnam visas either.   Time already for a new game plan.