Thursday Photo: The Most Beautiful Buddha
Our guide in Thailand was very proud of her culture and country and would regularly take add additional stops – usually ones with a magnificent Buddha of some sort – to our itinerary.After a long Read More …
Category: Thailand
What’s Next for Thailand?
The military ended the red shirts’ siege of central Bangkok today and, to their credit, did so with limited bloodshed. That does not, however, do anything to solve the social economic disparities that seem to Read More …
The Politcal Unrest Continues in Thailand
We were in Thailand in the fall of 2006, a coup d’etat had just occurred, but the country was calm and peaceful with almost no discernible evidence that anything was amiss.Since that time the political Read More …
Bomb Blasts in Bangkok
The BBC reports that the new year got off to a horrible start in Bangkok, where explosions put an early end to new year festivities. Thailand has been able to retain its peaceful calm through Read More …
Thailand and Cambodia
We are in LA now, after about 24 hours in transit from Cambodia yesterday. Whew! But what an awesome trip. Thailand November 5 – We Are Off! November 7 Arrival in Chiang Mai In the Read More …
Sri Satchanalai, Thailand
This morning drive to Sri Satchanalai, the northern outpost town of the kingdom of Sukhothai, built by King Ramkamhaeng. . . . Built in the 13th Century to help consolidate the power of the Sukhothai Read More …
Rice Fields in Thailand
Our drive takes us through more mountains, all of which are lovely, but impossible to capture against the morning sun.Then we leave the mountains behind and drive past miles and miles of rice paddies. It Read More …
A Hidden Gem
An early breakfast will be served in a pavilion behind the hotel. We step out the hotel’s back door and enter an amazing garden. Too bad we didn’t discover this last night, when we were Read More …
Wat Phra That Lampang Luang
Even without knowing anything about Buddhist temples, one look at Wat Phra That Lampang Luang is enough for me to realize that that this must be a very old complex. Indeed, many buildings date back Read More …
Acres of Pineapples
We continue south, driving through lovely scenery without stopping. After a time the land begins to flatten out and forests share the rolling hills with carefully tended fields. Somewhere in the midst of these fields, Read More …
Coffee Break in Phayao, Thailand
As we drive through, it appears that Phayao is a lovely and substantial town with a number of lovingly maintained traditional teak homes surrounded by neat gardens. While the day is dark and gray, the Read More …
The Wrong Attitude Can Cost You
There are a number of checkpoints along the roads in Northern Thailand, many of which seem rather informal. Since they are searching for illegal cargo and immigrants, we generally move through quickly, often with little Read More …
Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple), Thailand
Depart for Phayao, a rural lakeside province surrounded by beautiful mountains and valleys dotted with fascinating religious sites. En route visit Wat Rong Khun, also known as the “White” Temple. A lifetime project of artist Read More …
Early Morning at the Teak Garden
We are up early for breakfast, so I wander around the Teak Garden‘s grounds as the day quietly begins.Rice fields begin immediately across the dirt road that bounds one edge of the resort’s manicured grounds. Read More …
Evening in northern Thailand
Instead of visiting the Karen, we hang out at the resort for a couple hours, napping, editing photos, working on this journal, and walking through the gardens. The Teak Garden Spa Resort is a beautiful Read More …
The Karen
Previous Post: Chiang Rai Back at the resort we have some free time in which to relax before taking the bus up to the Karen village. We increase that time by skipping the village visit. Read More …
Chiang Rai
Chris brings us to a big hotel in Chiang Rai for lunch at their international buffet. The food is safe (a crucial point for Chris, who seems determined to keep everyone well), but boring.I escape Read More …
Back on the River
Although much of the elation I felt at the rice festival has subsided, the trip back to Chiang Rai is again relaxing and lovely. It’s nice to be on the water. Next Post: Chiang Rai