Tareerat Court Lamphun

... of like a thousand people. We did a little rendition of Little Red Riding Hood...it involved a lot of dancing and it ...

... and annoyed. Lonely Planet had lied about the regular trucks, and the men had lied to us the night before about the 6am truck. We set a 10am deadline. We would wait until then, but if we couldn't go for less than 500B by then, then we were getting the bus to the next town and skipping the mountain. We started flagging down trucks and buses on the road, asking if they were going that way, and Tony ...

... at the center. It was huge, lush, and beautiful. The best part is that there were elephants everywhere! The center takes in elephants that have been used as work elephants in the city or forests, as well as breeding its own herd. There are about 50 elephants there, all of whom seem happy and healthy (unlike the ones at the other place!). And the majority of the mahouts (kow-chang in Thai) live on the premises themselves with their families and pets; it's ...

... new routine began to emerge. Eileen's leg was far along the road of recovery, so we decided to make a point of hitting up a few day trips with our remaining month in Chiangmai. Here, I've outlined a few choice trips we've experienced, but like I said, we barely scratched the surface of what there is to see around here. A day of Water Falls Just along the west ridge of Chiangmai is a mountain called Doi Suthep. It's a ...

Thursday, October 25th- 6:11 pm The street festival in Pai last last was loads of fun! I spent most of the night walking around with Anna and our new pal, Ilia (also a Russian living in Israel). My secondary mission (primary one being to have a blast!) was to take as many pictures as possible to capture the spirit of the night for those back at home and for the Francine of the future. I think I accomplished this goal well. We visited all of the stages, spending a ...

This morning we rented a car in order to drive to the Mae Ping National Park, which is around 200km southish of Chiang Mai. The first thing I have to mention is that driving a car on the left side of the road is much more complicated than a bike. With a bike it just kind of works out; with a car you actually have to change lanes, figure out which way to turn, and deal with the fact that the rods for the ...

After 3 days in Bangkok, I needed to get out! Everything from the city was starting to bother me. Bangkok is a great place to go, however not a great place to start your trip. I booked a ticket on a night train, that had a sleeper bunk and air conditioning for about 900 Baht. The train ride was about 14 hours and it only went about 600 km. Lots of stops and the train itself moves rather slow. Shortly after ...

... our rooms and removed the nets claiming we didn't need them. I think she was upset at the holes we put in the walls with our hooks. I tried to explain that there were mosquitos in our room and that is why we put the nets up. She gave me some electronic tennis racket that I managed to shock myself with but not a single mosquito! Ok off for now....next stop Chaing Khong, on the border with laos!

... went out to them as well as our families. It is a unique Christmas though, and one that I think will remain in our memories longer than most. Breakfast is a thoughtful attempt at a western-style meal. Each of us is handed four pieces of bread, clamped together by two thin sticks, which we then toast over the fire, like marshmallows. Butter, jam and a hard-boiled egg are the toppings and a hot cup of instant coffee ...

... which gets a little dodgy at times because the rocks are so slippery, but no damage done. We also practice our slingshot skills, firing rocks across the river. It's a two-hour hike to our next stop. The countryside is quite varied, through thick jungle, up some steep hills, across rice paddy fields and so on. Every now and then we will see a ramshackle hut and a small field with a lone farmer tending a couple of water buffalo. We arrive at the village ...