30-Dec-2013 Monday, Prelude to New Year’s Eve The Thai people are preparing for the annual New Year’s festival – they celebrate New Year’s BIG! The central area is over by Tha Phae Gate, on my walk back from the Flower Market, I took a couple photos of the setup. Tomorrow it will be crowded with the fun and food beginning. New Year’s Celebration Setup From just down the street, the setup is evident. In the […]
29-Dec-2013 Sunday Today I felt very tired and, listening to my body, spent most of the day sleeping or generally resting. Missed the Sunday Night Market (called Walking Street Chiang Mai), but I am better for having gotten some much-needed rest. The market will be back next Sunday, as it is every Sunday, rain or shine. 30-Dec-2013 Monday Feeling quite revitalized after a rest day, I went for a long walk around part of the […]
28-Dec-2013 Saturday My back was feeling better this morning; not perfect, but definitely better. After a final breakfast with my Irish botanist friend Tom Curtis, he was off to the Chiang Mai train station and I was off to see more temples. There is one temple in particular that I am rather surprised I have not yet seen. In all of my reading about and exploring the temples in Chiang Mai, I somehow missed a […]
27-Dec-2013 Friday Thursday and Friday were generally low-key days, resting my back. And it is paying off. The pain is not as severe, and while getting up and sitting down are painful, those actions are less painful than a couple of days ago, and I am able to walk around without much pain. And I definitely miss yoga practice at Wild Rose Yoga. Being in a group class with that wonderful positive group energy is […]
25-Dec-2013, Wednesday, Christmas Day Christmas Day in Thailand is like any other typical day. The people in Thailand are about 95% Buddhist, and Christmas is not a religious or social event here. Because I am in an area frequented by many tourists from Europe and the Americas, there are signs of Christmas all over, Christmas trees or depictions of Christmas trees, restaurant staff wearing Santa hats, the evidence is everywhere. To most Thai people, however […]
23-Dec-2013 Monday As has become my routine, I spent much of the morning walking around parts of the old city of Chiang Mai, this time walking out to the Loh Kroi area, where the medical clinic I visited last year is, and also where the large Chiang Mai Thai boxing arena is located. Thai boxing, called Muay Thai, is pretty big in Thailand, and I am told that this area is quite busy when there […]
22 Dec 2013 Sunday I walked around most of the wall/moat today, stopping at Wat Lok Molee, one of my favorite temples. I did not get any pictures this time, but I will in future visits. I also went to Wat Meng Rai, the namesake temple of King Mengrai who founded Chiang Rai farther to the north. (Note: the word “Chiang” historically and precisely means “walled city.”) After the Burmese people battled with his people, […]
21 Dec 2013 Saturday I spent time on Saturday walking around a bit, and in particular, I returned to one of my favorite temples, Wat Suan Dok, outside the walled city, almost a mile from 3-Sis. Wat Suan Dok is a very sacred temple, and the grounds outside the main, very large viharn (worship hall) are a large grouping of all while chedi (pagodas) with one very large gold chedi in which a very sacred […]
20 Dec 2013 Friday After a bit of rest, I have started being a tourist in Chiang Mai again. The area feels familiar and comfortable; not a surprise since I spent a month here last winter. The first thing on the agenda was to get my Thai phone renewed. After that long, cold, and generally uncomfortable train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I woke with a very difficult pain in my lower right back, […]
After a mad dash to the Bangkok Hua Lamphong rail station, and an almost hour wait, I finally boarded the train to Chiang Mai. Here is the Hua Lamphong Rail station, originally built in 1916: The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) train to Chiang Mai covers what is known as the “Northern Line”. The daytime Bangkok-to-Chiang Mai “Express”, trains 3, 9, and 12, uses a diesel-rail-car powered short train consisting of a power car and […]
I am back in Chiang Mai! How exciting and what an exhausting journey to get here. This will be two posts, and both will be long. After checking into the hotel at the Bangkok airport (called Suvarnabhumi, meaning “The Golden Land,” a name chosen by the king, pronounced “su-wan-na-poom”) about midnight and setting a wake-up call for 5:00 AM, I hoped I would have time to make a difficult trip by taxi to the main […]
The actual journey to Thailand has started with a slow trip to Los Angeles International Airport in morning rush-hour traffic. I felt a bit anxious, but arrived as planned three hours before departure time. And I was one of the first passengers to arrive. The LAX International terminal is pretty quiet in the morning, so I am relaxing a bit before the scramble to board begins. I am traveling on Korean Air flight KE18, from […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 