Back to Pai

After enjoying so many days of trekking the hill area near Cave Lodge, We checked out and took the local bus to Pai. It was 3 hours, I think, but seemed like more. The funky old bus was really old and completely packed. Al was allowed to sit next to a monk (Al wanted to give me the seat but monk motioned "no" which I knew meant he can not sit next to a woman) so I stood along with many others. Lena had a nice hot seat on the motor cover next to the driver and poor Alex sat on the door step with the door open, hanging on for dear life each time we took one of the many hairpin turns. We were so glad to get to Pai and find a place to stay. Said goodbye to our new friends and hope to see them again in the USA or in Europe. We rented a motorcycle for a few days and hiked several trails to waterfalls. One in particular was very beautiful. I will attach a picture later. It was a 2-3 hour hike in and the same out...very tired and happy.

Trekking

Here are some of the views along the way to the northern villages. We were very near the Burma border at times.

Karen village

After our cave trek we visited the school in the karen village. Lena and I enjoyed the children. they were studying english!
Here is Al coming out of the cave.

Sappon to Cave Lodge

We went to Cave Lodge which is a bit remote from anything else. From the small town of Sappon we had only one way to get there....we each hoppped on a motorcycle taxi (unbelievable how they fit our backpacks and extra bags and us on back...but we did make it there. i had my eyes closed the entire way. This lodge was recommended by Al's friend Henry so we had to see it. It is beautifully situated in the midst of the main trekking area. We were able to do daily treks and get back to our bugalows by dark each day which was a nice plus....and we didn't have to back pack. We made wonderful friends while there and enjoyed the peacefullness. Great hammock for reading and napping! Took a day trek with our friends Lena and Alex up to the Karen tribe village where we found a guide to take us up to the caves beyond...guides are necessary here for some treks. We would never have made it. Beautiful Cave...even though I am timid about it I went in and enjoyed the experience...very long. Took us about 30 minutes to go to the end then another 30 to get back out.
They next day I trekked with Lena and Alex while Al rode the mountain bike into Sappon and the ATM. That night we visited Thom Lod, the big cave which puts on an incredible night show. Swallows swarm by the thousands outside above the cave and twilight then at sunset they swram into the cave...and bats fly out. Many people like to come here for this strange show.
This picture is of our guide for the 1st cave.

Northern Thailand

After leaving Chaing Mai, we headed north by the local bus to Pai. This town is unusual in that it is a bit like Boulder mall, Sedona New Age and Thai. It the midst of beautiful mountains, it is a mecca for Thai tourists and international travellers as well. We hit it at a peak time... Valentines Day weekend. They were promoting the celebration of wedding and vow renewals and love and all of the Hallmark type stuff which I would not expect to find here. Anyway, livley weekend with bands and street markets and events everywhere. Quite busy. But fun. After 3 days we were full of the frantic pace so jumped the bus to Sappon. Bus is quite a mainstay here....frequent and cheap and they go everywhere. They are also incredible old and impossibly running still. Can't beleive the old clunker made it up the gigantic steep grade...again and again. Hairpin turns, steep dropoffs...if you don't get sick from the dizzy movement you could still suffocate from the packed lot of humanity sharing the ride.
Here is a picture of the night market in Pai...the local hill tribes bring their stuff to sell..

Orchids

Some of the orchids were unbelievable

Elephants and Orchids

Today we were tourists and did the typical activites. Visited the Elephant camp which was really intersting and fun. Al got a bit too friendly with a big momma and she wanted to put his hand ...which should have had a banana or something in it but didn't...in her mouth. He found that arm wrestling with an elephant is not possible. It hurt. Other than that they were very entertaining and yes they do paint the most incredible pictures...it is amazing. We visited the orchid farm which too your breath away with the beauty. Then saw the silk factory...worms cocoons looms the whole process. We are unfortunatly on a tight budget and could not afford to buy their lovely silk garments or even a scarf. Very sad about that.
Then went to the silver factory which again was lovely to see but not in our price range....still having fun.
Al has developed a terrible cough and visited the pharmacist so we hope he gets well soon

Food

I have to admit to being a bit obsessed with the food here. It's because it is so wonderful...and different and exotic (to me, at least). So I have taken lots of pics of the vegs and fruits in all the markets as well as some of the dishes we have eaten....whether from street vendors or restaurants. It has been an adventure.

Wats and Wats!

Yesterday was buddha day here...one of the holy days in Buddhist realigion. So it was a perfect day to visit some temples. Chaing Mai has tons of them...called Wats. Sincer there are so many and since we had decided to do a walking tour, we picked a few of the most famous. Went to Wat Phra Singh...very beatiful. We purchased the traditional incense, candle and flower. Al very devoutly lit them and plced them and bowed and prayed. It was a wonderful and very unusual sight to behold. Then we walked around to eat and shop at markets but kept bumping into more temples at what seemed like every other block. We now have so many pictures of temples. Will share some of them

Chaing Mai

what an awesome area this is!! Today I took a Thai cooking class. It was amazing. We were picked up at our hotel, brought to the big open market where our teacher showed us all the different kinds of rice (didn't know there were THAT many kinds) and what they were used for. she then took us around to the herbs and vegetables. After we looked and took pictures awhile we were off to the farm. My class was with the Thai Farm Cooking School...they have a website. They are an organic farm and grow all their own herbs, fruits and vegs. OUr teacher's name was Nice. What a nice name! She was wonderful. we each chose our menu and cooked what we were to eat. I cooked a Green Curry with chicken, Tom Som soup with shrimp, chicken with cashews, srping rolls and for dessert, sticky coconut rice with mango. Amazing! We ended up with a beautiful cook book, a very full belly and lots of food to take home. Brought the spring rolls home for Al and the dessert dish. The soup I made was the most delicious and simple dish I have ever tasted...honestly. I feel I now know more about why the food here is so delicious. Also, since we have--so far--not had any stomach issues in the 4th week here, iI realize that the Thai are very clean conscious when it comes to food. Al did not go with me today (I was gone from 9-4) but instead went to the Snake Farm (not my thing!) and to the Cultural museum to buy things. He also made all the arrangements for the "visa run" that we have to do on the 15th. Great day!

Ko Phi Phi

Have not had much chance to use the internet lately and so much time has passed. Hard to boil it all down to simple sentences. The trip has been wonderful and the Thai people are so beautiful and sweet....everywhere. From Kho Tao we went to Koh Phengan (different spellings of this on every map but south of Koh Tao). This is the famous place for the Full Moon all night beach parties. We were not there during the full moon but could get a good idea of the party atmoshpere that generally prevails there. It was a wonderful island to do beach running so I loved that part. We explored the interior on motorbike and saw alot that way. Afet that we went to Ko Lanta...more laid back. Less of the travelling backpacker set and more of the suitcase set (with small children). Again, nice running beach. Explored some caves in the interior and did lots of sightseeing on the motorbike again. Passed and elephant on the road which was a first!
we are now on Ko Phi Phi. A small island but crammed with folks who want to snorkel and dive. We enjoyed incredible snorkling today...great variety of fish and unusual coral. Tomorrow we will dive. After that we are debating the next step. Need to see some of the North but would like to do more ocean before we leave here. This island was really hard hit by the tsuanmi and has recovered quite well. I try to imagine what it must have been like to experience that...what terror. 1000s were killed. No sadness here tho...the people must be grateful and living each day to the fullest....not a bad idea!

Paradise in flip flops

Hard to believe that we have been here a week. we are now in Koh Tao, an island paradise. The beach is lovely, the water perfect temp and all you need is a bikini and flip flops. we went scuba diving yesterday and saw Nemo and all his friends. The coral was lovely. The food is great everywhere. This is our 3rd day on the island and will be here a few more then move on to another one. The overnight train, ferry boat , cabs etc. to get here seemed long and tiring so I do not want to move on just yet. Rented an motorbike for a day and cruised the island. Al forgot to look at the gas gauge so of course....A very nice couple from Turkey came along and helped us out. We see very few Americans. Mostly Euro and Aussies travelling here at the moment. Night life on the beach is beautiful...spectacular sunsets.

Day 3

Great day so far. I have to admit that after the fantastic bike ride on our first day, I was feeling pretty smug about our quick adjustment to the new time zone and climate. Yesterday changed things. We were both pretty slow, lethargic and dizzy. A slow walk around the lake made me tired and swimming in the pool seemed hard. I kept feeling out of balance all day. We are both much better today however. We had an interesting dinner out last night at a local spot...spicy things and unrecognizable things in the curry! The fish cakes were very rubbery. Had a hard time with that. It is all a learning experince! Today Dale and the boys were off to school by 6:45 am so we were on our own. We just enjoyed a nice 4K run and splash in the pool. Noriko spoils us every morning with a lovely cappuccino (sp?). I won't be able to go back to regular coffee when I get back home, I'm afraid.
This afternoon we will go into Bangkok with Dale. It will be our first time in the daylight to see the main city.

First day....

We are starting our Thailand trip with a stay at the home of friend Dale Howe, his wife Noriko, and sons Tobi and Kai. They live in a lovely community connected with the International School of Bangkok where Dale teaches Psychology and History. We began the day with breakfast of delicious fruits and bread then a 24 mile bike ride around the area. Leaving the gated community, we crossed several busy highways then peddaled along paths through the market areas, along narrow raised concrete walkways over the water, hopped on a water taxi to cross the river then proceeded through the countryside. we tried to take pictures but there was so much to see that stopping every 2 seconds was impossible. We saw temples, rice fields and stray dogs, homes on stilts and high rise apts....all next to each other. Great way to see the sights. It was good the get the body moving too. After lunch we watched Tobi's soccer game...great player. He is in 3rd grade and Kai is in 6th. They really enjoy their school here and it looks like they both have lots of friends. Dale is very happy with his teaching job and Noriko loves teaching a Nia class (a form of Japanese dance...I will visit this class on Monday, hopefully).
Al wants me to join him in the pool!
Pictures to come later!

Time flies....

Long flight from Denver to Seattle to Tokyo to Bangkok! It was absolutely wonderful to be upgraded to business class (thanks so much, Mike!). The extra room, access to the Red carpet room and the great service, movies and food in-flight made things go very smoothly and comfortably. My mind got so confused with the long period of daylight...maybe 14 hours of it? not sure but definitely makes you dingy. Go forward in time to tokyo, then backward again to Bangkok...yikes.
anyway, dale and driver met us at the airport and welcomed us to his home at sometime after 1 am Thai time on Saturday morning. Slept wonderfully well in our nice room in their townhome. Great to be here! great flight!

It's time!

The bags are finally packed and all the loose ends are tied. We have endured the final hep shots, packed the sunscreen, bug spray and all the meds for the scary things that could happen. Now, it is time to have fun. Our sweet daughter, Erin is coming up to deliver some Thai food and say good bye. Our sweet daughter Devyn is here and will drive us to DIA in the morning.
This is great advice from a favorite, Mark Twain and sums up how I feel now: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Planning and prep...

Well, here it goes! As a first time blogger I will just take that baby step and see what happens. It was suggested to me to keep a journal of our first big trip and publish it as a blog so that friends and family can see how our travels to Thailand are going. Hopefully they will enjoy the news and pictures as we wander around the country experiencing the sights, sounds and tastes of this exotic place. We have been planning and preparing for this for what seems like an eternity. Basically, our (almost) full time occupation for the last several months has been reading the Lonely Planet guides, searching the internet, and grilling seasoned travellers for advice. We are on the count down now. 3 more days til lift off!

Let's see....immunizations/innoculations and prevenative meds and first aide stuff--check. Household stuff (the dog, the houseplants, water pipes, furnace and snow removal) all arranged--check. Mail and banking all arranged--check. Obtaining the right backpacks and luggage--check. Getting it all together and packed...well, not quite, but close!
Being gone for 6 weeks is a fairly long time but we wanted the flexibility to stay in one place longer if we were just having too much fun. Being under pressure to keep moving is not how we wanted to do this. There's a lot to see and do out there and it takes a bit of time to experience it fully!
So...off we go!