Silk

Pictures from Gyorgyi's trip to silk production in Chiang Mai now viewable at http://picasaweb.google.com/patstephens99/ChiangMaiSilkProduction.

And a couple of days ago in Ko Phan Gan she got to taste the raw material!

Sunday in and around Chiang Mai

Yesterday we visited an Elephant camp which was rather touristy but Fiona and I had an interesting Elephant ride. We went up and down hills and into the river but even on the flat the ride is fairly uneven. Although the camp claims it is dedicated to conservation of the Elephants (whose numbers are very much lower than a 100 years ago due to changes in forestation), it was an uncomfortable feeling to see the elephants not in use with a chain round their legs that allowed them movement of only a meter or two.

After that we visited Tiger Kingdom which I expected would be very touristy, but actually turned out to be a quite special experience. For a not-very-cheap fee you can spend 15 minutes "private time" with tigers of different sizes (or lion cubs). I got in with three 8-month old tigers (and 3 handlers!). Now, an 8-month old tiger is not far off fully-grown so these are not at all small. I could stroke them and sit beside them for photos. The girls got in with 2 baby lion cubs (and 1 handler) and could stroke and play with them - I could video them through an open window. Naturally we made dozens of photos too! It was worth the money.

In the evening we went back into Chiang Mai for the Sunday "walking street" market. As I wrote before, the quality of what is on sale in CM is much better than Bangkok, relatively little tacky crap, so even if we weren't buying it was interesting to "window shop". And the food stalls were excellent - not only different kinds of Thai food, but also lots of other like Sushi, fried fish, etc.

On the way we saw a Wat (temple) in the grounds of which, among other bizarre ornaments, stood a large statue of Donald Duck eating noodles.

The Secret Garden

Since Friday we are staying at the Secret Garden 12km outside Chiang Mai. It's fairly much in the countryside and we hear lots of weird animal noises like from Geckos. In fact there are small lizards all around including on the bedroom walls and surprisingly the kids haven't freaked out.

This place is run by a German man Peter and his Thai wife Pai, and consists of about 10 bungalows around a nice garden with small lake and swimming pool. They have a big open air kitchen and eating area which is very relaxing, lots of books and CDs we can use, etc. All of their business comes via TripAdvisor reviews; the other guests are American, Spanish, US, Australian. Pai cooks Thai food for dinner each evening and the guests are welcome to join in. There's a trust system for drinks - we take what we want from the fridge and write it down. The kids love the pool so yesterday I stayed here with them while Gyorgyi went off to look at silk production factories and naturally she came back with another few metres of silk!

I went for a longish run yesterday along the main road and got stared at a lot by the locals. Almost got lost on the way back when I took a wrong turn.

Today we are off to see some elephants and tigers.

We have 3 more nights here before going south.

I got all our photos written onto a DVD, unfortunately the PC at his resort doesn't have a DVD drive so I can't upload them.

Chiang Mai 2

Yesterday we strolled around Chiang Mai. There is a 'Wat' (Buddhist Temple) on every corner. Perhaps it would be the same for a Thai person visiting Ireland, to see a Church on every corner. But these temples are very ornate, decorated with gold and dragons, and totally photogenic. Lunch was at a local Northern Thai cuisine restaurant, where most of the food was spicy, perhaps reflecting the Indian influence. Luckily they had fried chicken and spare ribs for the kids. We were given chopsticks as well as spoons and forks, which the girls could use fairly easily (if not correctly) with the sticky rice that practically has to be torn apart. Fiona's technique was to roll the rice into a little ball with her left hand and stick one chopstick into it with her right.

After lunch we visited the most ornate Wat in Chiang Mai - the Wat Chedi Luang - the buildings feature really life-like waxworks of past monks. The main template was being repainted so we could watch them repainting the intricate designs and applying golf leaf.

In the evening we went to a "Traditional" entertainment evening - obviously packaged for the tourists with food, dance show, hill tribe music etc. Very touristy but at least not tacky, lots of food, and didn't cost the earth.

Today after another big breakfast (sticky sweet rice, poached eggs with satay sauce, banana pancakes, fresh mango and watermelon, smoothies) at the hotel, we went to the excellent Chiang Mai zoo and went around it twice with the hop-on-hop-off bus. The distances were too far and the weather too hot to walk. Kids were getting a bit worn out.

One more night at this hotel and then we move a few km outside the town for 5 nights. We'd be very happy to remain at the current hotel which is lovely, but the idea was to "do" the town and then see the outskirts. And the next hotel has a POOL!

Chiang Mai Day 1

Yesterday early afternoon saw us arriving in Chiang Mai with Bangkok Air on an Airbus 320 nicely decorated on the outside with pictures of fish. The flight was quiet - not much more than 30 passengers - and almost all were "Farang" (literally I believe it means Guava, but it refers to Westerners). Despite being a low cost airline and the flight time only 1hr 15 mins, they gave us a decent sandwich, pastry, soft drink and the kids got jigsaws.

Immediately on leaving the airport - which is only 3km from the city - we realised how different Chiang Mai is from Bangkok. No high-rise, much quieter.

Our hotel Pak Chiang Mai is delightful. It's a small family-run place built around a courtyard where they have lovely quiet niches to sit and relax. The decking has an area where massages can be given, a kids area, and underneath it runs a little fishpond. The kids were really happy playing here although we were embarrased when Fiona decided it would be a good idea to feed baby powder from the massage area to the fishes. Luckily the owner wasn't upset and said the filter would clean it.

The hotel has two PCs for internet usage. It also provides as much bottled water as we like. And lots of other nice extras like jars of Thai sweets and snacks sitting waiting to be tried. It's really at the level of a boutique hotel and the family who run it clearly try to go the extra mile. Our room doesn't have any view unless the neighbour's wall counts, but it's very quiet.

We ate a late lunch at the hotel, where they serve Thai and some western food for street market prices. Only the owner speaks English so it can be a little tricky to explain what we need.

After a late afternoon nap we headed off to the Night Bazaar which was nicer than the ones we saw in Bangkok - more spacious, relaxed feeling, and not just tacky rip-offs. Gyorgyi bought a couple of meters of nice silk and some other items, as well as spending an hour tea-tasting - which was free so we felt obliged to buy some tea we don't need. The young son of the lady who ran the tea shop was sleeping behind her on the floor - and she is there every night until 1am.

The people and the food look a little different here - more of an Indian food influence (the area is not far from Burma/Myanmar) and more women dressed in Muslim clothes.

So far we've stuck to Thai food only, but gave in yesterday and visited a Burger King for the kids. Fiona is quite happy eating rice and noodles all the time but Briana shows a little homesickness and would like some home comforts.

While at the market it started to get windy and we felt some drops of rain. Since the vendors started to cover up, we decided it was time to get going too, jumped into a Tuk Tuk and scooted back to the hotel. After the heavy overnight rain, the hotel owner told me this morning it is the first rain in 4 months. The air is clear and cool this morning. Apparently the air quality here in the last week has been very poor, so this is welcome.

Today we plan some temples. We stay 2 more nights at this hotel which is just inside the old city (a 1 km square area surrounded by a moat), then we move to another hotel a few km outside the city in the countryside for 5 nights.

Now the mosquitoes are starting to feast on me. Time to get some repellent creams...