Chiang Mai, early morning
one of the temples
close contact with elephantsThree new albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann I'm starting classes again tomorrow, and this is going to be a busy term! I'm teaching 5 classes, all different levels and including 2 languages. Plus, I'll be meeting with my language partner starting next Monday for 3 hours of Thai and 3 hours of English per week. That will be great; I'm so ready to really start learning some Thai! (which is not to say that I haven't been learning it; I just haven't organized my learning in a focused way.)
Ok, I have so much blogging to catch up on that I've decided to report about my travels in two parts: one part covering what I did and the second part talking about the actual traveling, which was quite a journey- the NOT so fun side of things. Anyhow, I left on Saturday, a week and a day ago. I spent the day in Bangkok with Pun, a friend of Bea's, a girl from my church. I was grateful to have a traveling partner for at least half of the trip. I slept at her place for a few hours and then we went to J & J Market, a huge market with row after row of clothes shops, and then all sorts of other stuff- handcrafts, food, books, jewelery, etc. And cheap! I did some shopping there but really went shopping in Chiang Mai. I haven't shopped much at all since I've been here, but Chiang Mai was definitely the coolest place to shop.
My friend Nee picked me up at the bus station in Chiang Mai on Monday morning and took me on a quick tour of the city on the back of her motorbike. Chiang Mai is absolutely lovely! It's an old city with plenty of interesting things to see- the old city walls, temples, and mountains! I was so happy to see mountains. We have small ones in Khao Lak, but the ones up north are tall. The weather was perfect- chilly at morning and night, so I actually wore a jacket for the first time since I've been in Thailand. Nee was a great tour guide, and she booked a guest house for me to stay in, too. I got to enjoy some northern food specialties which they don't have in the south; they have these curry noodles that are to die for. And they sold strawberries everywhere- with a chili sugar mix! Yum. I really fell in love with Chiang Mai; I think my pictures will tell a good story, but here are some of the things I liked:
Ok, I have so much blogging to catch up on that I've decided to report about my travels in two parts: one part covering what I did and the second part talking about the actual traveling, which was quite a journey- the NOT so fun side of things. Anyhow, I left on Saturday, a week and a day ago. I spent the day in Bangkok with Pun, a friend of Bea's, a girl from my church. I was grateful to have a traveling partner for at least half of the trip. I slept at her place for a few hours and then we went to J & J Market, a huge market with row after row of clothes shops, and then all sorts of other stuff- handcrafts, food, books, jewelery, etc. And cheap! I did some shopping there but really went shopping in Chiang Mai. I haven't shopped much at all since I've been here, but Chiang Mai was definitely the coolest place to shop.
My friend Nee picked me up at the bus station in Chiang Mai on Monday morning and took me on a quick tour of the city on the back of her motorbike. Chiang Mai is absolutely lovely! It's an old city with plenty of interesting things to see- the old city walls, temples, and mountains! I was so happy to see mountains. We have small ones in Khao Lak, but the ones up north are tall. The weather was perfect- chilly at morning and night, so I actually wore a jacket for the first time since I've been in Thailand. Nee was a great tour guide, and she booked a guest house for me to stay in, too. I got to enjoy some northern food specialties which they don't have in the south; they have these curry noodles that are to die for. And they sold strawberries everywhere- with a chili sugar mix! Yum. I really fell in love with Chiang Mai; I think my pictures will tell a good story, but here are some of the things I liked:
- the walking street, a completely amazing outdoor market that sells beautiful things for really cheap
- the night bazaar, crazy and chaotic, similar to the walking street but bigger and a bit more expensive
- tuk tuks
- used bookstores with English books
- wonderful little cafes and restaurants; Chiang Mai definitely has the feel of a uni town
- fireworks and floating lanterns for New Year's Eve! (I watched from the bridge over the Ping River, close to my guest house)
- everything is much cheaper there than in the south!
I went elephant trekking and bamboo rafting about an hour outside of Chiang Mai (a must-do for anyone traveling in Thailand). I was pretty amazing at what those elephants could do- kick soccer balls, play harmonicas, paint pictures, "massage" people.
That concludes part 1; hopefully I'll be able to do part 2 tomorrow, but I envision a very, very busy week coming up.
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