Hong Kong Island Night Skyline

Kayaking in Ha Long Bay

Chris enjoying our cyclo ride through the streets of Hue, Vietnam.

Good Morning Vietnam!

We are safe and sound in Vietnam, Hanoi to be exact, and were not in southern Thailand or Indonesia for the latest earthquake. Amy will be posting our Thailand travels in a couple of weeks after we get to Hong Kong. Thanks for all the concern. Amy & Chris

Northern Thailand (March 15-March 26)

Back in Bangkok...
Those of you who are true fans of the Chris and Amy blog will remember Amy Scott, the fellow American we met in Chile on Thanksgiving Day. Well, we kept in touch and it turned out that she was in Bangkok at the same time as us. We hooked up for some dinner and some beers and caught up on all our travel tales. It was great to see a friendly, familiar face after months of travelling. Little did we know that we'd catch up with Amy again in Vietnam.

Jim Thompson House & Museum
The last tourist attraction we visited in Bangkok was the beautiful house of Jim Thompson. He was an American architect who went to Asia during the final phases of WWII. The war ended soon after his arrival, but he fell in love with Thailand and moved permanently to Bangkok. He was very much interested in the hand weaving, coloring, and designing of silk, and devoted himself to reviving this craft. Because of his hard work, Thai silk is now know the world over for its quality and beauty.

In addition to his work in the Thai silk industry, Jim Thompson built himself a traditional Thai house built of teak. The house is an exceptional example of Thai architecture and is surrounded by beautiful gardens and fishponds. In addition, Thompson collected all sorts of Thai art --- including scupture, paintings, drawings, and woodcarvings. In 1967, Jim Thompson disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, but his home remains for Thais and visitors to enjoy.

Chiang Mai
Since Air Asia has such great value flights, we decided to skip the who-knows-how-long train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and take a plane instead. In Chiang Mai we met up with fellow Long Beach residents Nate, Marge, and Sarah Jones. Nate and Marge are the parents of Kristie Jones, a lifelong friend of mine, and Sarah is her sister. Sarah was spending some time travelling and studying in Thailand and Nate and Marge were out visiting her. Anyway, we all met up one night and had a great time visiting. Marge and Nate treated us "kids" to a wonderful Thai meal at a beautiful riverside restaurant in Chiang Mai. Afterwards, we wandered Chiang Mai's famous Night Bazaar for some good buys. Before long, Chris and Nate had settled down for a beer while the girls shopped. Once again, it was great to see some familiar faces and it gave us a little taste of home.

The Thai Elephant Conservation Centre
The next day we headed out to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, which is located about an hour's bus ride from Chiang Mai. This center was established to provide a home and care for abused, abandoned, and injured elephants. Now that the Thais have thoroughly logged most of the country, many elephants who previously worked with the loggers are now out of work. Many owners have abandoned them or sold them to folks in Bangkok who parade them through the city as tourist attractions. The center rescues these animals and provides a home for them, and also houses an elephant hospital for elephants maimed by landmines.

When we visited the center, there were two baby elephants carousing with their moms. We bought sugar cane and bananas and had a great time feeding everyone. They are such amazing animals and it is really exciting to be so close to them. They sucked and curled the sugar cane/bananas (about eight at a time) up in their trunks (it felt like a wet vacuum cleaner), and it was gone in an instant. Then, a cool refreshing drink was in order. If the nearby hose was running, they would fill their trunks with water and then "spit" the water back into their mouths.

We also went to the elephant show, where mahouts (elephant trainers/riders) and their elephants demonstrated the amazing skills of these animals. They can pull, push, drag, and roll any size of log, and are quite steady on their "feet." In addition to these oh-so-practical skills, the elephants have learned new tricks. They play instuments and paint pictures, both of which help to support the center. For a small fee you can buy the elephant orchestra's latest CD or buy a one-of-a-kind elephant masterpiece. (An elephant creates a painting at the end of each show --- the mahout places a paintbrush in the elephant's trunk...and art is created.)

Don't tell, but Chris was as giddy as a schoolgirl about the prospect of riding an elephant. Yes, another activity at the center is elephant rides. We did our bit for elephant charity (the money goes to the hospital) and handed over a small fistful of baht for the pleasure of riding an elephant for half an hour. Turns out that half an hour was about 25 minutes too long. I felt bad for the elephant, carrying what must've been about 350 lbs. of pure Amy and Chris, plus the mahout. We started out with a dip in the nearby lake, and then headed into the woods. Up and down the hills this elephant went, stopping every fifty meters or so to catch his breath. And it wasn't much fun on top, either. We were perched on this bench-like contraption which was strapped to the elephant's back (the mahout rode up on the neck, between the ears). As the elephant walked, we swayed left and right, front and back, hanging on for dear life. (Okay, not really for dear life, but it felt like it.) When we finally reached the end of our journey, we disembarked the poor thing and his trainer hosed him down and gave hime a good swig of water. It was money well earned.

Before heading back to Chiang Mai, we got to see the elephants bathing in one of the lakes. Imagine about fifteen huge elephants sauntering into the lake, submerging themselves, and then popping back up revealing only their backs and heads. Some were ridden by their mahouts, some were trustworthy enough to go solo. I don't know who started it, but before we knew it a water fight was begun. It was mostly the mahouts getting squirted by playful elephants...so it was quite entertaining. After a quick bath (and cool down), the elephants paraded off to the afternoon show and we headed back to our hotel.

St. Patrick's Day in Thailand?
You wouldn't expect to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Thailand, now would you? Well, I certainly didn't. But lo and behold, our guidebook listed an Irish bar not far from our hotel, and so we thought, "Why not?" We didn't end up staying for dinner, but on our way out we ran across three fellas in huge green clown wigs headed for the bar. We could only imagine what all the Thais must've been thinking of Westerners at that very moment.

Cooking up a Thai Feast
No real traveller to Thailand can leave without taking a cooking class. The food in Thailand is so great that you cannot help but want to learn how to cook it. I set off on my own (apparently Chris had his fill of cooking classes in Bali) and signed up for a class at Thai Chocolate Cookery Centre. There are tons of places in Chiang Mai to take classes, but this place's menu appealed to me the most, plus all of the dishes had vegetarian alternatives. In this class, I made vegetarian spring rolls, tofu with green curry, 'chicken' with basil leaves, papaya (somtam) salad, pad thai, and for dessert....fried bananas in thick coconut toffee served with vanilla ice cream. Ahhhhh. Not only is this class hands on (you actually do all the chopping and you get your own personal cooking station), you get to eat ALL of the food you cook. Each person made enough for about two people, so let's just say I was stuffed by the end of the day....even after putting some aside to take home for Chris. Whew!!

Doi Inthanon National Park
On one of our days in Chiang Mai, we took off our "independent traveller" hats and joined up with a tour group to visit Doi Inthanon, one of Thailand's many national parks. Doi Inthanon has several waterfalls, boasts Thailand's highest peak, and sports two glitzy chedis erected in honor of the current queen and king of Thailand. First stop was Ban Pha Mon, a Karen weaving village. (The Karen people form the largest of the hilltribes that inhabit northern Thailand.) Anyway, we pulled up in our minivan and all piled out for an "authenic" experience. The driver left the van running, prompting Chris to ask, "Aren't you going to turn off the engine?" He responded quickly stating, "No, we're only going to be here for 10 or 15 minutes." Well, so much for that authentic experience....and the environment. We had a quick tour of the homes and had a chance to see some of the women at work before we were whisked off to our next destination.

Next stop: waterfall. Yup, pretty. But as is the nature of organized tours, we had only enough time to hike to the falls, snap a few pics, and go back to the van. :-) One of the most interesting stops of the day was at a place called the Royal Project. This is a center set up by the Thai government that encourages the development of "agricultural alternatives." Here, employees learn about money making alternatives to poppies (opium) and then go out into nearby local farms and encourage farmers to switch to these healthier and less illegal sorts of crops. There are endless greenhouses growing all sorts of spectacular flowers, as well as fruit trees and veggie crops galore.

Next up we visited the chedis dedicated to the queen and king of Thailand. The king's was built on his 60th birthday, and when the queen turned 60, they built one for her as well. They sit atop a hill and enjoy expansive views over the valley below (when you can see it). The gardens in the area are also impressive with an ocean of colorful snapdragons.

At 2,565 meters, the highest point in Thailand is not so high...but we indulged them and took a picture of their big, proud sign anyway. After that we were on our way back down the mountain to Chiang Mai.

Pai: Scooter Girl for a Day
Pai is a little hippy town to the northwest of Chiang Mai that has a good reputation for a laid back attitude and cool mountain air. At that point in our trip the mention of "cool mountain air" sent us running for the hills. We endured a scary minivan ride up the mountain with a driver hell bent on breaking some sort of speed record, but nevertheless we arrived in one piece. Our companions in the minivan included a few Canadians and a British fella who will figure into the story in a few paragraphs.

Well, someone lied about the cool mountain air. It was just as hot in Pai as it was in Chaing Mai, but lucky for someone it actually cooled off at night. The other part of the rumor was true --- Pai is laid back and full of expat hippies. We were also surprised to see a lot of Muslim women wearing veils --- we ate lunch at a Muslim restaurant where one woman even wore a veil that covered everything except her eyes.

There are a few waterfalls and some hot springs within a short distance of the town, but unfortunately Pai does not have a great public transportation system. Riding bicycles to these places was an option, but it was so hot that neither of us could imagine pedaling uphill in the 100 degree heat. At that point it became clear that the only way we were going to be able to get out of town and to these waterfalls was by renting a motor scooter. We were both a little apprehensive about it, but finally we decided to go for it. After a very thorough two minute instuction period, we were deemed qualified to ride a scooter in Thailand and off we went. Chris was at the helm and I rode on the back like a good biker chick. I have to admit that it was quite exhilarating, and I can now understand why people get addicted to riding motorcycles. It was so fun that it now ranks as one of our best days in Thailand! We rode out to a few waterfalls, hiked around, and watched fearless Thai kids jump into rock pools and slide down rock faces from one waterfall pool to the next. We also stopped at the local hot springs. You may be asking yourself, "Why are they going to hot springs if it's a 100 degrees outside?" Good question. We don't really know. We had the bike and wanted to ride everywhere and anywhere we could. And we also hoped that the springs included some cool pools like they've had at other springs we've been to. But no such luck. They were some of the hottest springs we've ever been to. Amazingly, there were some people who were actually soaking in them.

After the hot springs we'd decided to head back to our guesthouse...but on our way we passed the public swimming pool! At last, some cool water to soak in.

Back in town with scooter returned, we set out to have dinner at a restaurant reputed to have really good chocolate cake. Now Mom, I wasn't going to have chocolate cake for dinner...but maybe dessert??? Well, there wasn't any chocolate cake to be found, but the restaurant was great anyway. The place is so popular that when there aren't enough tables to seat everyone, they start doubling up parties. So, if you are a party of two at a table that could easily seat four.....congratulations, you now have new friends. A gal from Canada, her Santa Cruz yoga buddy, and a woman from Hawaii joined us at our table. The other thing about this restaurant is that when they get busy, things get sort of confused. The staff mixes up orders and half the time your food takes about an hour to get to you. If you get what you're ordered, you're lucky. If you didn't get what you ordered, you usually just eat what comes because you are so hungry by that point. And it's usually pretty good anyway, so you're not mad. :-)

After dinner, we ran into our Canadian and British friends from the mini van ride. We joined them for what we thought would be a few beers. Chris and I usually share a "big beer" (enough for about a glass and a half each), but this night we started out with one big beer each since we usually end up ordering two anyway. Big mistake. A half hour later someone was buying the next round and bought us each another big beer. Then another round. Another big beer. Uh oh. Well, four rounds later we were in quite a state. Let's just say that I made it down the mountain in the minivan the next morning without losing my breakfast, but it wasn't pretty. We also weren't too happy to see the same crazy driver we had on the way up.

Well, that pretty much sums up our travels in Thailand. Next up, Chris will tell our tale of two Americans in Vietnam.

Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand