Around Bangkok: where it all begins and ends

My first and last view of Bangkok, good ol' KhaoSan Road -- the backpackers ghetto, open 24 hours a day.



















The Gold Buddha.















I felt obligated to let the birds go.















Crazy looking supsension bridge over the Chao Phraya River.




Obnoxious "non-motorized tuktuk" which I thought worthy of photographing -- there's a big club advertisement on the back.

Grand Palace Complex, Bangkok

If you're staying in the traveler's ghetto, ignore what the tuktuk drivers say: you do not need a ride, the awesome Grand Palace Complex is just a 15 minute walk. Plus you'll miss the river, the National University, the National Museum, and the huge public park Sanam Luang (which was where the happenin' activities for the King's Birthday were going on). The holiest site in Thailand, Wat Phra Kaeo (containing the non-photographable most important image of the Emerald Buddha [which apparently is photographable for certain postcard makers]) is on the complex.

Sorry to Include This

Cat approaches small Buddha at Wat Traimit in Chinatown...



















Cat worships Buddha...




Cat feasts on Buddha's offerings.

Around Chiang Rai, Thailand

Kok River.



















Picnic on the Kok River.



















Angel Falls outside of Chiang Rai, LamNanKok National Park.



















The other one is better but I just wanted to prove that I did the hike and I was there.



















Lance has two matching black siamese cats (and a third that decided to pitch his tent at Lance's the week I was there).



















Lance's girlfriend Neuie.



















Neuie's son Chur and the new kitten, Baxter, that decided to make Lance's place home.



I don't know, I just came back to Lance's after shopping for pharmaceuticals that are too expensive in the US and there was an elephant in the driveway, seriously.















Drinks at a little ex-pat bar before my trek.

White Temple, Outside Chiang Rai

Monks, obviously.


















The White Temple, or Wat Rong Khun, still under construction, yet quite a spectacular site -- designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat.

I was in Burma for a minute

This is the border of Thailand (right) and Burma (left). Tourists often cross from Mae Sai on the Thai side to Tachilek on the Burmese side simply to spend 5 minutes in Burma, walk back into Thailand and get another free 30 tourist visa stamp. There's not much to see in Tachilek, except a wide variety of pirated Chinese dvds for sale. Lance had to go to the border to get his travel visa worked out, I was happy to go with and get another fun stamp in my passport to say I was in another country.

I actually had a nice afternoon chatting with the border police and a young school teacher in Tachilek -- tried a little bit to get thoughts on Aung San Suu Kyi (and the recent extention on house arrest). Noone knew who the hell I was talking about, which I attributed to my incredibly poor pronunciation rather than the fact that its a closed state. Probably a stupid thing to ask about, especially with the border police.















Yes beyond Chinese dvds, Tachilek's claim to fame is its location in the former/current "golden triangle". Hey if connecting your city with the heroin trade works for tourism, then more power to the chamer of commerce.



















Cute Burmese girl.

Mud Trekking

Starting a hilltribe trek in Northern Thailand...I took a boat up the Kok River to a Karen village with group of chained elephants waiting. I tried to spread the sugar cane evenly.


















Animal exploitation: you ride an elephant halfway up a mountain to a small Yeo village. For some reason, I developed a fear of heights and steep vertical climbs on this trip which seemed to kick in for the elephant ride. Also compounded by the fact that the 3 foot path the elephant walked on was muddy and he kept slipping (causing immediate 5 feet drops down or backward).



















Since I come from a heavily developed nation where the vast body of plant and animal diversity has been destroyed, I'll try to minimize my judgmental, moralizing prickness about the elephants.I was pretty leery of the elephant situ. However, I was "assured" that the elephants are unchained and let free to roam in the mountains for food at night -- and smart beasts that they are, spontaneously return to the village during the day. Asian elephants are beautiful, smart, social beasts. I'm fortunate to have seen them, and I know nothing about what they need to thrive. The hilltribes use them as work animals, and in this capacity, they are not slaughtered.














Perty mountains.
















Outside Lisu village















Morning in the Lahu village.
















An open wood fire in the center of a bamboo hut.



















Many of the hilltribes with the "help" of the Thai gov't have given up their nomadic lifestyles. The guide identified at least 7 distinct groups that have migrated from southern China into Burma, Thailand and Laos. Trekking norther Thailand is a very popular tourist excursion so obvious the tour through these villages is very organized (you stop every two hours to eat and drink beer -- really roughin' it). To obtain Thai citizenship, the tribes have to be "stationary" for 10 years, so the people in the



Trekking was more about falling on your ass that day.

Go East Young Woman.

Neuie was nice enough to loan us her truck to make the trip from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong, on the border of Laos. I took this picture of them on the way.















On the road to Chiang Khong.



















Quite a nice drive to Chiang Khong -- strange mini-mountains rise out of the rice fields as a prelude to the mountains. Please enter the comments and read Joe's geological explanation of these structures -- much better than my description!



KMT Cemetery in Chiang Khong -- quite a serence little place and good for looking over the city and across the river into Laos. About 200 graves facing China (actually Laos) are on the hilltop. I couldn't find any information about why it's here. One tourist pamphlet indicated that many former KMT soldiers and Chinese Nationalists fled China in the 40s and settled in Northern Thailand (near Doi Mai Salong).