Monday, November 17, 2025 Walk Around the Moat 2: West I am now at the southwest corner of the moat, starting the walk north along the west side. A photo looking north as I start walking northward. A little of the wall remains here, seen on the right of the photo. Over time, a road inside the wall evolved. The city outside the moat had grown up to the moat. Because there was a need, […]
Monday, November 17, 2025 Walk Around the Moat 1: East and South I am back in Chiang Mai for my 13th winter here. I arrived on Sunday, November 16, after leaving Bangkok without any emergency hospital visits, unlike last year. I am writing this entry on Wednesday. In my past 12 winters in Chiang Mai, I experienced exactly one day of rain…not 0, not 2 or more, but only one. Today is the third day […]
Saturday, November 5, 2025 Wat Benchamabophit, The Marble Temple Wat Benchamabophit, formally known as Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram, is one of the best-known and renowned religious landmarks in Bangkok. And it is a major tourist attraction. The temple is known for its refined architectural composition in the ornate style associated with temples of Bangkok. The central-Thailand style includes high gables, multi-tiered roofs, and elaborate finials. The Marble Temple combines traditional Thai aesthetics with European influences introduced […]
Saturday 15 November 2025 Wat Ratchanatdaram, The Iron Temple After visiting Wat Pho, I negotiated with a tuk-tuk driver to take me to the Iron Temple, wait, then take me to the Marble Temple, wait, and finally take me to the nearest BTS Skytrain stop. Traffic in this part of Bangkok is dense and slow. We finally arrived at Wat Ratchanatdaram, the Iron Temple. Wat Ratchanatdaram The name Ratchanatdaram means Temple of the Royal Niece. […]
Saturday, November 15, 2025 A full day in Bangkok – Wat Pho Breakfast Before I head out to see temples in Bangkok, it’s time for breakfast at the hotel. The hotel in which I am staying used to be the Novotel Phloen Chit (the Novotel Hotel in the Phloen Chit district of Bangkok). I had come to like this hotel because it is very affordable for a 4 or 5-star hotel, and it is right […]
Thursday, November 12, 2025 The Long Journey: Home to Bangkok via Los Angeles and Incheon (Seoul) Travel day is finally here. I am traveling to Thailand for my 13th yoga-focused winter in Chiang Mai. The trip is lengthy: home to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); LAX to Incheon (Seoul’s airport); Incheon to Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok’s main airport); and finally to my hotel. In many previous years, I walked to a neighborhood Avis location, picked up a […]
Thursday 6 February 2025 Traveling Home and Reflections on My Twelfth Winter in Chiang Mai Traveling Home to the United States Being my last day in Chiang Mai for this winter, I spent a low-key, mellow day on Thursday. First I went to The 3-Sis for my last breakfast because I love the Thai omelet, which is not on the menu at See You Soon. Also, I wanted to bid farewell to the staff at […]
Monday 03 February 2025Afternoon excursion near Mae Rim, Air Diamond Cafe When we were driving north to the Dantewada Waterfall Park, we passed an actual airplane just off the main highway. Mukda said it was a coffee shop but she had never stopped there. On the way back from Dantewada, I suggested that stopping there might be fun. Air Diamond, part of the Black Canyon Coffee chain, is a coffee shop in an actual Airbus […]
Monday 03 February 2025Afternoon excursion near Mae Rim, the waterfall park We left the lake at Huay Teung Thao and headed north, farther from the city of Chiang Mai. We are going to a place with a waterfall or more than one (more photo opportunities), and it is in the district north of Mae Rim called Mae Taeng. The place is the Datewada Waterfall Park, and it was a lot of fun being there and […]
Monday 03 February 2025Afternoon excursion near Mae Rim, lunch on a lake My friend Mukda had told me that on Monday she had to go north of Chiang Mai to pay her business tax and she asked me to come with her. She said there was a nice place where we could have lunch near the provincial tax office. I met at her massage shop and her two massage ladies, Yui and Anna joined us. […]
Saturday 1 February 2025 Returning to Khun Chang Khian to see the Sakura Mukda is a long-time friend of mine who owns a massage shop on Loi Kroh Road here in Chiang Mai. I often sit and chat with her after an evening walk, watching the people walk by. She told me that one of her massage ladies, Yui, wanted to go up the mountain to Khun Chang Khian to see the Sakura. She came […]
Friday 31 January 2025 Some miscellaneous pictures and descriptions I am all caught up with this blog, enjoying some mellow days in Chiang Mai as my winter here is eroding away. It is the last day of January and I start the journey home in just six days, next Thursday evening. A couple of posts ago, at the end, I noted that the next post would be miscellaneous photos. So to round out January, here […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 