You can look at a map of a city and it all makes perfect sense. You immediately conjure up visions of strolling along the wide boulevards, popping into conveniently places landmarks from time to time, before summoning a handily waiting tuk tuk for the short ride home. Then you arrive at the city and it’s […]
Continue reading →
Getting train tickets from Chiang Mai to Bangkok required charm, persistence, and many return journeys to our guest house. The unsmiling ticket guy relieved the tedium of his day by playing power games with the hapless, hopeful, red-faced, backpack touting tourists. It almost felt like a disappointment to him when nothing prevented him from booking […]
Continue reading →
These images don’t need a post, or any categorization. There just a series of random images (that I couldn’t fit in anywhere else) of life in this busy, multi-faceted city. Due to its size and modernity, we found it rather over-whelming after Luang Prabang and Siem Reap. But – as I hope you can see […]
Continue reading →
Who knew what a fabulous resource elephant poo could be? Non smelly, full of lovely rich fibres and completely abundant, it is a top-tastic recyclable resource. We had a lovely hour or so in between death-defying adventures (tigers and crocodiles) wandering around this splendid place, learning all about this woefully undervalued material and its literary […]
Continue reading →
I don’t know what they do to these crocodiles – hopefully, just feed them very, very well. Having been up close and extremely personal with a host of tigers down the road, I (and Thalie) left the honors on the crocs to Luke and Sacha. Yes, these crocs are very real – the ‘featured’ one […]
Continue reading →
We had ambled around many of the glorious temples in Luang Prabang, learning about the spiritual quest of the Buddha, and its associated animal mythology. So, I suppose it was to much to expect a high level of interest in the larger, more spread out, and steamier offerings of Chiang Mai. Still, undaunted we set […]
Continue reading →
Thai cooking is both extraordinarily simple, and mind-bogglingly complex. The simplicity came in the ease and speed of cooking this delicious food; the complexity in the intricate blends of the sauces, herbs and spices required to create the gloriously subtle and spicy flavours. We learned to cook in the outdoor kitchen of Mai’s home, along […]
Continue reading →
After the serenity and tranquil beauty of both Siem Reap and Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai was a bit of a shock. It seemed to us to be ENORMOUS – industrial, clogged up and hard to get around, and rather soulless. There is a beating, beautiful heart of an old city in there, but it’s hard […]
Continue reading →
In Thailand, just before we left Chiang Mai, we went to a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) class. Muay Thai is a bit like kickboxing but it has more moves. It is a very big sport in Thailand and many men compete in it. We decided to try it out so we turned up at the gym […]
Continue reading →
We went ATV-ing it was really cool and fun. When we first got there I was really scared and then it got really epic. At first the guide was driving, but soon I took over. We went on a practice track that was cool and I got to go on a bumpy other track that […]
Continue reading →