Happy Birthday To Me!

On November 14th, I turned 39. I started my day bright and early for a jog around the moat. I have to go early because it's just too hot later in the morning and the traffic is a little better then too. I talked to Brianna when I got home for a bit. She taught me how to take a screen shot on my phone! At 10:00 we went to do some volunteer work at the school (Chiang Mai International School). Mike and I each have a little one to help out with in Grade 1 for a class and then after Mike goes to grade 4 and I go to grade 5 for one class. After lunch we went to Starbucks for coffee. They have their Christmas decorations out already and I love the Christmas music. 
Mike organized a little birthday dinner for me at The Riverside restaurant with some friends. I had a blast! The best bartender in Chiang Mai (according to his co-worker) made us a pitcher of margaritas that were delicious. The food was great too. Because the Loy Krathong, Yee Peng Festival was only 2 days away there were people out and about along the river setting of fireworks and sending lanterns into the air. There was a real excitement in the atmosphere. 
Our friend Karen has a part in the movie that they are filming in Chiang Mai called The Coup. It stars Owen Wilson. AND Owen Wilson came into the restaurant while we were there! But I didn't see him. (Angela and I looked on all 3 floors.) Apparently it was too crowded and he ended up at the restaurant next door instead. Karen later went and saw him. How cool is that?! 
Our good friend Shelley brought me a lantern! After dinner, we found a clearing and set off our first lantern with Shelley's good instructions. (I was a little nervous - if it doesn't go up or gets caught in a tree, it's bad luck for LIFE - I didn't want anything bad to happen on my birthday of all days.) Shelley recorded a video for us and I have attached a one minute portion link below for you to see. After the lantern we went to a few bars and dance places and had lots of fun. It was a really good birthday. The first time I've been out until 3AM in a really long time.  

http://youtu.be/zw6DVjAIAG4  - This is the youtube link for our lantern release.

Coming up next some photos from the Lantern Festival ...

A Slice of Pai (Nov 9-11)

Our latest trip was to a small town approximately 80 km (50 miles for those of you born before 1970) north of Chiang Mai called Pai. Although most people just pronounce it as “pie”, the Thai sound for P is really closer to B, according to Tick, our language teacher. Anyway, it’s a town of about 2000 people which has become an immensely popular tourist stop, particularly amongst the backpacker set. It’s easily walkable and the streets are filled with locals selling their wares.  As well, numerous bars and restaurants, along with cheap guesthouses, are everywhere which makes it extra attractive for the young travellers. There is a relaxed but energetic (is it possible for those two words to go together?) feel to this beautiful town located on the Pai River.

Pai itself is nestled at the foot of the mountains and the surrounding countryside is stunningly beautiful. There are hot springs, waterfalls, and hiking areas. We rented a small motorbike for the day at a cost of 140 baht (under $5) and explored several areas. One place that we wanted to see was the bridge on the river Pai (see blog from Oct. 27, One Night In Bangkok). Although this one was not the subject of a movie, it had many similarities to the one over the Kwai. According to locals and most tourist information sites, it was built by Japanese soldiers during World War Two in order to transport goods and troops across the river. However, there is strong evidence which suggests that the bridge was built much later by the Thai government and the historical connection invented, presumably to attract tourists.

I mentioned earlier that the distance to Pai is only 80 kilometers so it should only take an hour to drive there right? Well it doesn’t quite work that way. The route from CM to Pai has 762 curves (apparently someone had the time to count) which is boasted about on t-shirts and other paraphernalia. We were warned that at least one person always gets car sick on the trip to or from Pai and it was very nearly us. Sitting in the back of the mini-van was a gut-wrenching experience which will not be repeated. Next time it will be the 25 minute plane ride in a 12-seater Cessna instead of the three hour rollercoaster in the van.

Until next time ………

BUA TONG WATERFALL

The Bua Tong Waterfall (also referred to as the Sticky Waterfall) is located approximately 45 kilometers north of Chiang Mai. With our fellow thespians Angela, E.J, Shelley, Karen, Ian and Charlotte, we spent a fantastic Sunday at this relatively secluded area. For some reason it seems to have stayed off the tourist map, leaving us ample room to play.

At the top of the falls is an area like a small park where people set up little spots to eat, drink and socialize. There is no cost to get in and they even sell food and drink there. We were able to buy beer and Sangsom (Thai rum) which was fortunate because it was election day in Chiang Mai and the sale of alcohol was banned for a 30 hour period. Yes, people were able to sit in a public area drinking alcohol and no one was injured, maimed, scarred or killed. Take that, Ribfest at Zwick’s Island! (Canada is without doubt one of the greatest countries in the world but the liquor laws are archaic and absurd.)

But enough pontificating. Back to the waterfall. There are four levels to the waterfall and it is possible to actually walk down through the flowing water even though it is quite steep in parts. The limestone rocks have been perfectly smoothed over by the running water and have a “sticky” feeling, making the footing secure. From the top area there is a drop of approximately 50 feet to an area of flat rocks and that pattern continues for two more levels. You can stand at the bottom of a rock and have the water cascade over top of you, a sort of Sticky Falls shower. An amazing feeling.

Every once in a while you have one of those days where there is a feeling of complete joy and freedom, untouched by the multitude of troubles in our world. A short break from reality in a sense. Sunday at Bua Tong was just such a day.

Until next time ………….

Here's the link for more waterfall photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200838034696466&type=1&l=2ff8ec5d54

Visa run to Laos

After our failure to secure a visa in both Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Plan C involved a trip to Laos, Thailand’s neighbour to the east. The capital city is Vientiane and a trip to the Thai consulate there was necessary for us to extend our visa for another 90 days. They make sure you stay at least one night by having you apply for your visa one day and receiving your answer the following day.

Vientiane is a city of approximately 800,000 people and it seemed to us that their national pastime was “napping”. Actually, the Lao people could not have treated us any better than they did, going out of their way time and again to assist us. Unfortunately, the city itself did not leave a wonderful impression. There was a great deal of garbage in the streets (reminding us of Cairo last year) which apparently is somewhat new to this city. Vientiane hosted the Asian Games a few years ago and at that point the city was spotless.  Afterward, it seems, the money for cleaning projects dried up. The Mekong River runs through Vientiane and where one might expect a number of beautiful riverside buildings, restaurants etc., none existed. At least we didn’t see any.

Luang Prabang, a Unesco World Heritage site, is a small city north of Vientiane and that was our next stop. A beautiful and charming little city, LP is also on the Mekong River but in contrast to the capital it uses its natural beauty very effectively. There are numerous guest houses along the river but no high-rises or modern hotels to be seen. It is a town that is easily walkable or rideable and fortunately our guest house provided free bicycles (as well as a free pickup from the airport). We decided a river cruise on the Mekong at sunset would be a perfect end to the day and start to the evening (the sun sets about 5:45) so for 100,000 we got an hour on the water.

Ah yes, the prices. One U.S. dollar is approximately 7500 Laotian kip, so the majority of our time was spent trying to make sense of the money. We actually withdrew 2,000,000 (that’s right, million) kip at one point just to have a cup of coffee and a muffin. If you dropped a 500 kip bill in the street you really had to consider whether it was worth your while to bend over and pick it up.

One of the highlights of our trip to LP was being part of tak bat, the daily procession of monks along the main street at 5:30 a.m. Hundreds of locals and tourists line the street with alms (offerings of food, mainly sticky rice) every morning to give to the monks for their daily sustenance. There are well over a hundred monks walking in single file as well as in complete silence. There is also almost total silence among the almsgivers which makes for an eerie but awe-inspiring ritual. The people give the food in order to “make merit” or receive spiritual redemption. As is often the case though, the spirituality is somewhat lost when you see such things as monks having to sidestep cameras on tripods in order to accept the alms. Subtlety and discretion are seldom evident in tourists. However, a return to Luang Prabang is certainly in our plans.

Until next time…………

Here's the link to see some more photos including more details from the rice paddies :
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200840581560136.1073741837.1331881912&type=1&l=7e29b8cfdd