Whoever coined the term "teaming metropolis" must have had Bangkok in mind. We arrived here this morning and spent the afternoon at the Chatuchak Market. The biggest market in the world, it is an overwhelming and mesmerizing array of booths and vendors selling everything under the sun.
Here's a little trivia for everyone. Bangkok is just a nickname. Bangkok's full name is the actually the world's longest city name: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonratankosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Nophosin Ratchathaniburirom Udomrathaniwetmahasa Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathatiya Witsanukamprasit. Seriously! It means: City of Angels, Great City of Immortals, Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of the Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra's Behest. I guess we'll stick with Bangkok.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Chiang Mai Zoo
We have visited many zoos, but the Chiang Mai Zoo will be remembered. Probably because their safety standards are noticeably lower than their American counterparts, but in Chiang Mai you can get up close a personal with a lot of animals. Throwing caution to the wind, we took full advantage and were able to feed hippos by tossing food into their gaping mouths, feed meat to a jaguar and feed fish from a baby bottle. A couple of other highlights included the Pandas and petting the baby elephant.
Trekking...continued
At the end of our second day of walking, we arrived at a village inhabited by people of three different tribes, the Lahu, Lisu and Akha tribes. We stayed at the home of the village's Lahu chief, which was well appointed with a makeshift shower and a regular sit-down toilet.
One of the evening's highlights as we toured the village was meeting the Lisu Spirit Man. He like most was completely smitten with the kids and followed us on our tour through the village laughing and posing for pictures.
Every village we visited was overrun with animals, in particular pigs, dogs and chickens, which all roamed freely throughout the village. Starting with the roosters crowing starting at 4:00 a.m., we woke up in the morning to a symphony of crowing roosters, snorting and squealing pigs, and barking dogs.
Before we left on our final morning, we talked with some Akha women and visited the nursery school.
One of the evening's highlights as we toured the village was meeting the Lisu Spirit Man. He like most was completely smitten with the kids and followed us on our tour through the village laughing and posing for pictures.
Every village we visited was overrun with animals, in particular pigs, dogs and chickens, which all roamed freely throughout the village. Starting with the roosters crowing starting at 4:00 a.m., we woke up in the morning to a symphony of crowing roosters, snorting and squealing pigs, and barking dogs.
Before we left on our final morning, we talked with some Akha women and visited the nursery school.
Friday, December 2, 2011
More Trekking
Our first day of walking was mostly on wide paths that doubled as dirt roads for the four-wheel drives and the motor bikes, which were the preferred mode of transportation for the modern tribesmen. Our second day of trekking included some narrow forest paths that got us truly into the jungle. Although, even along the narrowest of paths that seemed only passable to someone on foot, we would invariably encounter a local farmer carrying his bags of harvested rice or corn on a motorcycle.
With our guide Chang in the lead, we made our way through the hills, saw some of the farms and harvesting activity in action, and stopped at another village for lunch. At our lunch stop, we witnessed some women processing sesame seeds by sifting them through a woven basket. We also saw the true spectrum of tribal women, from the oldest to the youngest.
With our guide Chang in the lead, we made our way through the hills, saw some of the farms and harvesting activity in action, and stopped at another village for lunch. At our lunch stop, we witnessed some women processing sesame seeds by sifting them through a woven basket. We also saw the true spectrum of tribal women, from the oldest to the youngest.
Village Life
We only spent one night in the Lahu village, but we experienced some basic aspects of day-to-day life.
The basic homes are constructed of wood and bamboo. The main living and cooking room is usually contracted most of bamboo. There is no chimney for the cooking fire, and the smoke just escapes through the porous bamboo floor, walls and ceiling.
The kitchen sink, so to speak, was made up of jugs of water and gaps in the wood floor for a drain.
Going to the toilet was always an adventure. This typical "squat" toilet made with porcelain and tile was actually a quite nice example! Do your business and then just flush by ladling some water from the adjacent trough.
We slept on thin mats on the wood floor. We had sleeping bags and a mosquito net. Although the villagers slept under basic blankets with no nets.
The basic homes are constructed of wood and bamboo. The main living and cooking room is usually contracted most of bamboo. There is no chimney for the cooking fire, and the smoke just escapes through the porous bamboo floor, walls and ceiling.
The kitchen sink, so to speak, was made up of jugs of water and gaps in the wood floor for a drain.
Going to the toilet was always an adventure. This typical "squat" toilet made with porcelain and tile was actually a quite nice example! Do your business and then just flush by ladling some water from the adjacent trough.
We slept on thin mats on the wood floor. We had sleeping bags and a mosquito net. Although the villagers slept under basic blankets with no nets.
Trekking to Visit the Lahu Hill Tribe
Northern Thailand is inhabited by a number of different tribal groups. Called the Hill Tribes because of the mountainous terrain where they live and farm, there are several distinct tribes made up of peoples that migrated to northern Thailand primarily from China, Tibet, Burma and Laos. We spent several days walking to visit these people in their villages led by our trusty Thai guide, Chang.
The first day we hiked to village of the Lahu tribe and stayed in the home of the village's "spirit man." The village's dirt streets and basic wood and bamboo homes were perched along the hill tops.
In the evening, we toured the village learning about the culture and the people. We visited the Spirit House, where our guide, Chang, explained the tribal religion that holds ceremonies only on days when there is a full moon or no moon. We saw some kids playing soccer in the school yard, and we saw chili peppers, an ever present part of the local cuisine, drying in the sun. And everywhere we went, we were followed by a throng of the local kids, or "North's entourage" as we soon called it, because they were all completely enamored with the young blond haired, blue eyed boy. The kids, and even most of the adults, rarely see outsiders, but even more rarely do they ever see children from outside their villages.
The first day with the Hill Tribes ended with a wonderful meal prepared by our guide, Chang, and the Spirit Man, sitting around the cooking fire.
The first day we hiked to village of the Lahu tribe and stayed in the home of the village's "spirit man." The village's dirt streets and basic wood and bamboo homes were perched along the hill tops.
In the evening, we toured the village learning about the culture and the people. We visited the Spirit House, where our guide, Chang, explained the tribal religion that holds ceremonies only on days when there is a full moon or no moon. We saw some kids playing soccer in the school yard, and we saw chili peppers, an ever present part of the local cuisine, drying in the sun. And everywhere we went, we were followed by a throng of the local kids, or "North's entourage" as we soon called it, because they were all completely enamored with the young blond haired, blue eyed boy. The kids, and even most of the adults, rarely see outsiders, but even more rarely do they ever see children from outside their villages.
The first day with the Hill Tribes ended with a wonderful meal prepared by our guide, Chang, and the Spirit Man, sitting around the cooking fire.
Elephants, a Zip Line and One Dead Snake
After driving and trekking around rural northern Thailand, we made it safely back to the city of Chiang Mai. Our three-day adventure started out with a visit to an elephant farm that raises and trains elephants in the traditional ways, including grazing them in the forest. We spent an hour riding the elephants along a forest path. Elephants are hungry beasts; so our guides loaded us each up with armfuls of bananas because our elephants would occasionally stop walking, reach their trunks back over their heads, and wait for us to feed them a couple of bananas before they would resume.
From the drop off point at the end of our ride, we had to cross a river to reach our car. We used a zip line that we're not sure had received its annual inspection for a while, but we made it across and were soon on our way.
On the road to the elephant farm we spotted a Thai Viper, a highly venomous snake. It was dead on the road. We weren't sure if that was a good or bad omen as we were about to head into the jungle, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
From the drop off point at the end of our ride, we had to cross a river to reach our car. We used a zip line that we're not sure had received its annual inspection for a while, but we made it across and were soon on our way.
On the road to the elephant farm we spotted a Thai Viper, a highly venomous snake. It was dead on the road. We weren't sure if that was a good or bad omen as we were about to head into the jungle, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
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