Palm Garden Chiang Rai

... heroin) this was Thailand and Vietnam's main export for years and probably still goes on in some parts but officially from them has stopped! after this we got to visit the next country called Laos. This was much poorer than Thailand and straight away you could see that. still a very enjoyable experience though

... the baking sun but got some great views of the surrounding hills and the small rice paddies the hill tribe villages make. When we arrived at the Hill House Nicole had recently arrived and our bags arrived an hour or so later. While waiting for our bags Nicole and I went and checked out the nearby waterfall. It was awesome sitting under it - so refreshing after a long day of sweating ...

... but Tony insisted that there was one final temple outside of town that was definitely worth a visit. I wasn't expecting much but agreed, and we hopped on the bus to Wat Rong Khun. You can't imagine my surprise when we stepped off the bus and I saw the most amazing temple appear before me. The white temple, although not yet finished, is the standard by which all future temples should be measured. Any ...

Wednesday 7 January 2552 I drove Jo and Judy into Mirror, showed them around after the morning meeting and then left them at Baan Leepha Child Care Centre with the other volunteers. Picked up Kanchana and Kitty and went to Mirror Art Guest House for a meeting. Its looking good and we are getting ...

... us warm "rice water". To cleanse our digestive system with the claimed therapeutic properties of the concoction. We were instructed to down that before we even brush our teeth, it had to be the first thing we did in the morning. Breakfast was husky brown rice with vegetables and the very freshly squeezed lemon juice. Fresh honey was served along for us ...

... Coming!!!" each time he brought a plate. Once the food was squared away he sat down next to the English guys and asked them if they smoked anything more than ciggarettes. They said sure, and he put a highball glass full of green down on the table, broke himself off some and told us to enjoy... for free of course. So we did, and enjoyed it for the next two days. Our next day was mostly just lazily enjoying the view, though we took two ...

... for people in the Irrawaddy delta area. This also coincided with the controversial referendum to agree a new constitution for Burma, which despite the on-going suffering of the cyclones victims was pushed ahead by the military Junta. Concerns about the referendum and the Junta's usual paranoia about outside countries intervening in Burma, meant that the Junta blocked the international community from delivering the aid they knew was so badly needed ...

... one bungalow pictured there, his best but we didn't see it as it was in use when we arrived. He has a clever operation which it seems to me is deliberately designed to entrap guests in his guest house by offering a free pick-up service from Chiang Rai which doesn't arrive at the guest house until shortly before dusk by which time it is too late to leave. Even if you managed it don't use the map on the website, it's upside down. The direction indicator may show Chaing ...

... able to meet up with a few of the women and children from the Long Neck Karen, the White and Red Karen (with the big hole earings), and the Akha. I was told by the guide that all of these people originated in Burma. There apparently is a bit of overlap of hilltribes between China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma. However, those I had seen during our travels all appear to be very much their own people as their attire, language, and customs vary from place to place ...

... br><br>The other story is about the immigration hassles for an ex-pat, trying to conduct his life outside the country of birth, in this case an American in Thailand. One of the reasons I settled in/on Thailand was that it was easy. I could get business visas easily, or I could just stamp in and out, thirty days at the time. Well, they cut out the easy business visas long ago, at least in LA, though they can still be had sometimes in some places. Then ...