Here's a late breaking story about my trip to Chiang Mai. One of the best parts of my trip was meeting other interesting travelers. I met two artists (a couple) on my trek through Doi Inthanon National Park. David is a printmaker and college lecturer from England. Caroline is more interested in sculpture and videography. She's from Ireland. One of the last projects she made was a 3-D sculpture of garnish out of 500 TV dinner boxes. David and I talked about history, religion and politics. I also met travelers from New Zealand, Scotland, Denmark, Holland, France and South Korea. Our trek guide Mr. P was quite a character. He kept telling the same jokes. Every time we walked by a Karen tribe hut, he would say "Cannibal House!". He said that at least seven times. When we walked by vines that twisted around trees, he said, "Anaconda!" It was funny because he seemed to laugh at his own jokes every time. He often would say "Oh my Buddha" instead of "Oh my God." When we went to ride elephants he said, "We go to Thai airport. We catch Thai jumbo jet." The "Thai A/C" he spoke of was a leaf that could be used as a fan. And "Thai 7-11" was a jungle shop that sold cokes and beers. One time he showed us a huge termite hill. He said it had a termite queen and that if you broke the mound open you would see it looked just like Bangkok with a termite Royal Palace, termite school, termite temple, and so on. Mr. P was impressive. He spoke English well and he knew some French as well as some words in the native tribal languages. He was also amazingly fit for a 60-year-old man. He set a quick pace through the jungle. I was disappointed with my train ride during the day. The scenery was nothing spectacular. I've romanticized train rides from seeing too many movies. They aren't that great. It was better than a bus ride though.
Chiang Mai was an impressive city. It is way more laid back than Bangkok. I could walk everywhere but I got tired of it and usually rode tuk-tuks. The traffic was heavy sometimes and made it hard to cross the street. On one day, quite by accident, David, Caroline and I ended up going on a tour with a tuk-tuk driver. He took us to the oldest wat in the city and lots of other interesting ones. One had an unfinished mural of the water festival. It was very contemporary. It included water guns (that looked like Super Soakers), hoses, and people with tattoos. In a hundred years what will people look back at this mural and say? I think if I lived in Thailand for a long time I would want to live in Chiang Mai. Bangkok is very Westernized and very big and busy. I hate the traffic. I hate the pollution. And there isn't much to do if you tired of going shopping. In Chiang Mai there were lots of interesting arts and crafts being made. I saw a silk factory, a lacquer wear factory, a jade shop, and place that made wonderful looking umbrellas. I bought some gifts for family and friends at the Night Bazaar. The funny thing is that much of what I got has elephants on it. I didn't really even intend that. People are going to think I like elephants. But almost everything has an elephant on it. Thailand is an elephant country. There are pictures of my trip on the yahoo pictures website. I also went to two mountain top wats: Doi Suthep and Doi Saket. Doi Suthep had a wonderful view of the city. I hope everyone is doing well. I'll send you another report soon. I might go to Ayutthaya this weekend. Law gaan. Bye.
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