I’ve been interested in Buddhism for years – it speaks to me in ways that other religions do not. So when I saw the sign that said “Monk Chat” at Wat Chedi Luang, I jumped at the opportunity to talk to one of the 700 monks who train at this temple. Just beyond the sign I found three young monks in mustard and saffron robes, sitting at concrete patio tables, deep in discussion with a middle aged man. When I approached, one of then quickly broke away and greeted me, proffering me a seat at a second table.

Chat with a monk on the temple grounds

My monk was a tall, thin young man with a wide smile and huge ears protruding from his smoothly shaved head. He was clad in a silky burnt orange robe that hung from one shoulder, baring both arms and half his chest in the midday heat. He sat, arranging the yards of ankle-length material in his lap to keep it from dragging on the dusty cobblestones in the yard. In good English he told me his name was Udon and asked me what I would like to discuss. Read the rest of this entry »

My immediate impression of Chiang Mai during the drive from the airport to the hotel is that I am going to LOVE his place! It must be obvious to all my readers that I have fallen in love with Thailand. This is my third visit and I am sure there will be many more in the future, but this is my first ever trip to the north of Thailand.

Remnants of the moat and wall that originally surrounded Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is both a city and a province and is second only to Bangkok in terms of size, the entire province having a population of over one million with an estimated 300,000 people living in the city itself. Chiang Mai is situated alongside the Mae Ping River and shadowed by the magnificent Doi Suthep mountain. As Thailand’s second city and capital of the northern provinces it boasts a culture unique to northern Thailand and a rich history dating back more than 700 years to the Lanna period. Various hill tribes who all still lead traditional lives and follow ancient customs inhabit the mountains that tower above the city.

The town and its surrounding area are renowned for arts and crafts, spas, massage and herbal health products, trekking opportunities galore, and day trips to the Karen and Hmong hill tribe villages. Almost 70 percent of the province is covered by lush forests and mountains, which accounts for its reputation as a treasure-trove of natural beauty. There is so much to see here that the choices made our heads spin, so we decided to start with the Old City in the center of town.

The central square comes to life with vendors and artisans every Sunday

The Old City is one of Chiang Mai’s biggest attractions. Built over 700 years ago, it was once an entirely walled square surrounded by a moat. Some of the original city walls still remain – particularly the great brick bastions at the four corners – as does the moat which, rather than repelling raiders, is now an inviting green swath with illuminated spraying fountains. In the middle of each of the four sides of the Old City are the original gates to the city. The main gate, Thapae on the eastern side and facing the river Ping, has been rebuilt complete with a stretch of wall to give people an idea of what the walls were once like.

By night the crowd are enormous, but well-behaved

The entrance to Thapae gate, located only a block from our hotel, was our starting point. We blessed our good fortune at having arrived on a Sunday, since this is the day each week when artisans arrive from all over the province to display their wares at the craft market that takes over the entire length of Rajdamnern Road from 3 PM to 11 PM. Rajdamnern Road, which runs directly through the center of the Old City for more than a mile, is turned into a pedestrian mall on the evening of the market. Read the rest of this entry »

The most exciting thing about Phuket was the ferry ride between Phi Phi Don and Phuket Town, when two blokes aboard our boat discovered they had gotten on the wrong ferry. The operators had to radio up the Krabi ferry to come alongside so the two errant passengers could be transferred from one boat to the other. It was accomplished easily and with precision (and astonishingly, without any ropes or tie lines between the boats), leading me to believe that this is not the first time they’ve had to perform this maneuver. I watched as each of the young men handed their luggage over our boat railing to outstretched arms waiting to grab it on the other boat bobbing up and down next to us. Then, timing their jump for a moment when the two boats were level with one another, they jumped across. I said a silent prayer of thanks that it wasn’t me who had boarded the wrong boat.

Transferring passengers from one ferry to another in the middle of the bay

Tomorrow morning we leave Phi Phi Don and head for Phuket for one day before continuing north to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Today being our last day on Phi Phi we did two things. First, we took a longtail boat to Haad Yao Beach (commonly referred to as Long Beach), a more remote site north of the main town that is known for its wide, white sand beach. While it was beautiful, I wouldn’t want to stay there. The longtail boat ride cost each of us $5, one way. There are only six resorts on Long Beach, few restaurants and no entertainment. Being there for six whole days would have driven me crazy – there’s only so much time I can spend lying on the beach.

Sunset over Loh Dalam Bay

In my opinion we were in the best resort on the island – the Phi Phi Villas Resort, with its lovely pool, wireless Internet, great cabins and terrific restaurant – because it was far enough away from the craziness of Ton Sai Village yet close enough to walk to town if we wanted to take in the local color. The second thing we did was to walk across the narrow isthmus to Loh Dalam Beach after dinner to watch the sunset. But I think in this case a picture is worth a thousand words. Phuket, here we come!

By 5:45 AM I was sitting on the dark beach, meditating while awaiting the sunrise. To my left a skinny young Thai man jogged the tide-washed shoreline. To my right another man, clad only in surfer trunks, lay on his back with his arm over his eyes, his long tangled hair splayed out behind him on the sand, passed out after a long night of partying. The sun peeked over the limestone cliffs at 6AM, slowly turning the ocean and sky vivid shades of pink, gold, and bronze.

Sunrise on the beach on Phi Phi Don, Thailand

Read the rest of this entry »

What did I do today? Nothing much, and it was absolutely delicious! I slept in, then enjoyed a leisurely brunch at the restaurant while watching the long tail boats motor back and forth with their passengers bound for Long Beach and points north. I walked the dozen steps to the beach, taking only 17 photos, which turned out to be the only ones I took the entire day (this is no doubt a record – most days I take photos numbering in the hundreds). I then backtracked to the pool at the resort, where I whiled away the afternoon sipping fresh mango juice and iced lattes, dipping into the bath-water temperature pool whenever I got too hot. At 5 PM I walked along the shore to a nearby restaurant where I picked my dinner from the iced tray displaying the day’s fresh catch (Sea Bass), which was cooked over a charcoal grill and served with buttered rice. Deeeeelicious!! I’m turning brown as a berry, I fit into a swimsuit I haven’t been able to wear for a couple of years, and my hair has bleached out to almost white. I look ten years younger than when I left on this journey and I am happy as a clam.

The gorgeous beach on Phi Phi Don

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact that the Phi Phi Islands have been discovered and prices here have doubled in the past few years, there is no denying the exquisite beauty of these islands. We are staying on Koh Phi Phi Don (Koh means island in Thai), at 28 square kilometers square the largest of the six islands that comprise this archipelago and the place where most tourists stay. Smaller, neighboring Koh Phi Phi Le is famous as the location where the movie “The Beach” featuring Leonardo Di Caprio was shot.

Long tail boats line the shore at the Phi Phi Islands

Read the rest of this entry »

The trip to Phi Phi Island was ten hours long and not particularly pleasant. It began with an hour flight to Krabi on the southern peninsula of Thailand. From the airport we got a taxi that took us to one of the myriad tour companies in Krabi Town, where we purchased tickets for the 3PM ferry to Phi Phi. By this time it was noon and the temperature was more than 100 degrees – not pleasant when you are wearing a fully loaded backpack and dragging around your luggage. With two hours to kill before catching the shuttle bus to the ferry dock we went in search of food and finally found one place open on Sunday. Along the way every tour operator pressured us to book a hotel on Phi Phi. It was the same old refrain – this is high season, there is no availability, you will get there and have nowhere to stay – etc, etc, etc. I know this is a scam but there’s always that nagging little doubt in the back of my head. It says, what if they are telling the truth this time and we get there and can’t find a room? What do we do then – sleep on the beach? The tour operators bank on this. They are experts at instilling fear in order to get your business. Undaunted, we stuck to our plan to wait until we arrived on Phi Phi so we could actually see the hotel and the room before booking.

Old ferry carries passengers to Phi Phi Don

We sweated through our midday snack at the open-air restaurant and headed back to the tour company just before 2PM, where we were loaded onto a mini bus and taken to the ferry harbor, about 5 minutes outside of town. After another 45-minute wait in an open-air pavilion we were directed to go to the end of the dock and wait for the ferry. Finally, a rusty old bucket of a boat chugged into the dock and we were allowed to board. The locals were directed to the small enclosed upper seating area; we tourists were sent into a larger enclosed seating area in the lower bowels of the ship, a dark, damp hold filled with rows of peeling blue vinyl seats and reeking of diesel fuel. There was no air conditioning and the heat was oppressive. Windows ran down both sides of this passenger area but they were so fogged it was impossible to see through them. Everything made of metal was covered in bubbling Read the rest of this entry »

One of the pleasures of Bangkok is the ability to get lost without worry. Yesterday we took the water taxi from the Taksin Bridge, on our way to see Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn. We hopped on board and grabbed a couple of seats on the left side of the boat, soon to discover why every seat on the right was occupied but the entire left side of the boat was empty – the left-hand seats get sprayed with water as the boat makes its way down the river. We had been directed to get off at stop eight but not every stop had a number visible – at least not in English – so we ended up getting off at stop six by mistake.

Water taxi on the Chao Phrya River, Bangkok

Hot, hotter, and hottest - peppers in an outdoor produce market along the Chao Phrya River

Our attitude, as with all things on this trip, was that all things happen for a reason, so we set off on foot along the river. Before going two blocks we found ourselves in the midst of an open-air vegetable and herb market. There were varieties of squash, pumpkin, melon and many other items I have never seen before. One man sat in front of wicker trays sorting hot chilies. Another loaded huge sacks of peeled garlic cloves. A third man loaded a pickup truck with green onions, their root ends pointing outward and looking like white fur. Yet another group sat in a circle peeling large white onions. And then there were the women bundling the same three-foot-long string beans I saw in Vietnam – they are delicious, by the way. Read the rest of this entry »