A sculpture of a chinese warrior outside a temple in Bangkok. There are temples everywhere here as Buddhism is the dominant religion practiced. There were hordes of tourists walking through the temple and taking pictures as people were inside the temple praying to Buddha. I felt uncomfortable being in such a spirtual place where all of these people were taking tons of pictures like they were observing animals at a zoo. Anyway, the temples are amazingly elaborate buildings with wonderfully diverse colors and sculptures. They are 1,000's of temples all over Thailand and I will be seeing many on my trip.
Here are am hanging out with some friendly Thai's on an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The group made our way to the "disco car" which consisted of a section of the train with music, drinks and even a disco bar. Our group headed into the car and after a few drinks we took over the sound system and played our own selection of music. The image of us and a bunch of Thai's dancing to the tunes "Sexyback" and "Holla Back Girl" will be forever engrained in my mind. Needless to say it was a blast. It was also really interesting to talk to some Thai's about their thoughts on America, George Bush and American football. They are very friendly people and really know how to have fun.
Kate and I rode this elephant through the jungle of the Chaing Mai province. Chang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, but it has the feel of a small beach town. The pace of life is very laid back and relaxed. It was a welcome escape from the chaos of Bangkok. The elephant ride was an unbelievable experience. The elephants are such gentle, graceful and enormous creatures. The tribal guide balanced on the elephants head and used his native language and a rod to control the elephant on our trip. It was so much fun. Afterwards we dined on some delicious pad thai at the elephant compound and headed to the river for a rafting expidition on narrow bamboo rafts. The rafting was almost more fun than the elephants. Our native guides were drunk and hilariuos as they jokingly tried to fight me Mui Thai style and splashed each other's rafts as we went down the river. We saw elephants bathing in the water toward the end of our trip which was so cool. The entire day only cost about $30-40 which included food and drinks. It really struck me how laid back Thailand is. We didn't have to sign any waviers to ride the elephants and rafts even though they were pretty dangerous. People just don't worry about stuff like getting sued as they do in America. Also, despite the erratic driving behavior of Thais, they are so calm on the road.
Kate and I rode this elephant through the jungle of the Chaing Mai province. Chang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, but it has the feel of a small beach town. The pace of life is very laid back and relaxed. It was a welcome escape from the chaos of Bangkok. The elephant ride was an unbelievable experience. The elephants are such gentle, graceful and enormous creatures. The tribal guide balanced on the elephants head and used his native language and a rod to control the elephant on our trip. It was so much fun. Afterwards we dined on some delicious pad thai at the elephant compound and headed to the river for a rafting expidition on narrow bamboo rafts. The rafting was almost more fun than the elephants. Our native guides were drunk and hilariuos as they jokingly tried to fight me Mui Thai style and splashed each other's rafts as we went down the river. We saw elephants bathing in the water toward the end of our trip which was so cool. The entire day only cost about $30-40 which included food and drinks. It really struck me how laid back Thailand is. We didn't have to sign any waviers to ride the elephants and rafts even though they were pretty dangerous. People just don't worry about stuff like getting sued as they do in America. Also, despite the erratic driving behavior of Thais, they are so calm on the road.
A temple we visited on the way to Chaing Kong. It was all white and absolutely beautiful.
Leaving my mark in a small restaurant in Chiang Kong. Notice the use of Northern California slang. I had to differentiate myself from all the Australian and English wankers that I'm with. On that topic, I'm getting an education in Australian and English slang, which is pretty cool. By the time I'm done with the trip I should be fluent in their crazy way of talking.
Time to go meet up with the group for some Karoke. Tomorrow I leave Thailand and cross the river into Laos and then spend 2 days on the Mekong as we make our way to Luang Prabang. See you next time...
6 comments:
Oh, Patrick, I'm so sorry that you're having such a terrible time on your trip. I know you're homesick and would like to be back in Davis starting a new quarter of classes. Oh well - that's life.
Having drunk Thai raft pilots adds just a bit of extra excitement to the ride. Next, you will be telling us that your Thai friends in the picture that were sharing your 32-ounce bottle of Heineken and bottle of Dewar's from plastic cups were actually the train engineers taking a break from driving the train.
It didn't look like the elephant was happy in fact it looked like it was crying. did you take all the pictures? they are really good.
I'm glad your having a great time. I'm enjoying your writing as much as the pictures. You have a special way of capturing the moment. Love them! Sigue escribiendo tus aventuras que nos entretiene mucho. Diviertete! Have fun!
^^^^^^
You know I was talking about the ones that he isnt in you jerk.
You go girl!
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