thailand
north
From Bangkok, it was a good 12-13 hour ride by bus to Chiang Mai. I was expecting a change from Bangkok, but instead it felt pretty much the same, just on a smaller scale. Lots of pushy street vendors, yelling at me to come in their shop, girlie bars. I couldn't find a single place that wasn't full of Thai girls in short skirts dancing with old, fat men. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I stayed in Chiang Mai for five days, waiting for Glyn and Raphaelle and finally gave up on them and headed further north to Pai. Pai was exactly what I was looking for, my favourite little town in Thailand. Yes, Pai-radise.
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Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is one of the largest cities in the north of Thailand, over 700km from Bangkok. It's a crossroads of ancient cultures, Simese, Burmese, Laotian, along with the remnants of land trade routes with Chinese. The area surrounding the city and further North is home to many of Thailand's ethnic minorities and many people use Chiang Mai as a starting point for hilltribe trekking in the mountains. It didn't interest me one bit, seeing the hilltribes, and I prefered to stay in the city, looking at old wats and pretty much just doing nothing.
Chiang Mai street.
Wat Chedi Luang, damaged by either a 16th century earthquake or the accidental cannon fire of King Taksin in 1775. This was the original resting place of the 'Emerald Buddha' after it was stolen from Vientiane and before it was moved to Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok.
Wat Phra Singh, a perfect example of northern Thai architecture, with sloping, multi-tiered rooves.
The Phra Singh Buddha.
Temple painting, Wat Phra Singh.
Naga head, Wat Phra Singh.
Ancient chedi, Wat Chedi Luang.
The crumbling wall and moat surrounding the old city.
Lotus flower soap carving at the Night Bazaar.
Deep-fried scorpions, bamboo worms and silk worms, along with a number of different insects all for sale at the Morning Market.
Anyone up for some grub? Try the Fatty Restaurant near the Night Bazaar.
A Karen tribeswoman selling handicrafts.
Nasi Goreng from the Zesty Bakery.
I took a one-day Thai cooking course in Chiang Mai with Gap's Culinary School in the forest just outside the city.
We made 8 dishes: Chicken with Cashew Nut, Thai Green Curry, Tom Yum Soup, Fish Souffle and Fish Cakes, as well as Pumpkin Custard, Pad Thai and Fried Spring Rolls (not pictured).
They also taught us how to carve vegetables, onion lotusflowers and tomato roses.
Pai
Pai (pronounced like bye), three hours by bus through the mountains north of Chiang Mai. A tiny town of only 3000, but my favourite place in the country. It's filled with long-term travellers staying a lot longer than they anticipated, galleries, cafes and cool little bars with live Jazz/Blues and Rock music. Every night something was going on, an Art Party, or Exhibition, another party here, a get-together there, a campfire. It sucked me in, I planned on staying 2 days and ended up staying for 8, though I could've easily stayed a month or longer. It was just the feel of the place, rarely rising before noon, drinking until 3 every morning. spending the afternoons reading in a hammock, or soaking in the hotsprings in the jungle, nothing to do, nowhere to go. No vendors or taxi or tuktuk drivers constantly harassing me and no girlie bars.
Pai fields.
Pai in the sky.
My bamboo hut at the Ban Naam Pai Guesthouse.
Wat Klang Buddha.
The 80C pool at the top of the hot springs.
Kenyan Anna and Irish Anna at the hot springs.
Pai dog.
Pai airport.
Pai falls.
The Pai River. One day we rented inner-tubes and floated down it for an hour, past palm trees and rice fields.
Pai market.
A Pai parade.
Irish Anna and I found this little chameleon in the bushes outside her hut.
One of the bamboo bridges spanning the Pai river.
Nightly bands at the Bebop Cafe.
Dripping candles at Ting Tong. The ad for this bar proclaimed at the bottom: "NO CELINE DION!"
Ian and Tee at Bebop, we met them one day playing pool and they took us inner-tubing on the Pai rver.
A Shan tribeswoman selling handicrafts.
Me and Anna and Anna at Bebop.
Seth and Joe upstairs at the Good Health Cafe.
Orlando, Hubert and Anna trying to share a scooter to the Bamboo Hut one night.
Hanging out with some Australians we ran into at the firepit on the deck of our guesthouse restaurant.
Anna and Anna at Bebop.
A little Thai girl at one of the clothing shops.
Irish Anna and I met this guy at Ting Tong one night. He told us a really sad story about how he lived in Phuket and had lost his entire family in the tsunami.
Nong Khai
...
Nong Khai is the first/last town in Thailand before the border with Laos. The border is formed by the Mekong River and is crossed by the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. I came into Thailand from Vientiane, Laos and spent a couple of nights in this border town. There were a few nice things to see, my favourite and probably one of my favourite sights in the whole country was the Sala Kaew Ku Sculpture Garden.
A magnificent belltower.
The sinking wat of Nong Khai in the Mekong River. It was originally on the shore and over the years has slowly shifted and slid to the center of the river and is now almost completely submerged.
The solid gold Buddha statue here was once lost for over 50 years at the bottom of the Mekong River. It fell off a boat during a violent tunderstorm while being transported.
Sala Kaew Ku
The handiwork of mystic Luang Pa Bunleua Sulilat. He said that one day while walking in a forest near his home he fell into a deep pit. The pit led to a cave. An old invisible monk lived inside this cave. Luang lived with the monk for many years and learned his philosophies. When he finally resurfaced he began work on a concrete sculpture garden in Laos, but was soon kicked out of the country. In 1978, just across the border, he purchased a plot of land and continued to sculpt his creations which mix Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian idealogies. Some are several stories high and very detailed. There is a giant 'Wheel of Life' entered through the mouth of a serpent and foreboding demon, snake and Buddha statues. Luang died from injuries sustained while working on his creations. His body is kept under glass in a wat in the park, but is not on public display. It is said that his hair and nails continue to grow.