Chiang Mai - The Rose of Thailand.

Our stay in Chiang Mai was a wonderful relief after the madness of Bangkok. We took the overnight train that winds its way through hilly passes and endless rice fields from Bangkok for 700 rickety kilometres. We all managed to get some type of sleep but were relieved to find our hotel the next morning very close to the railway station.

Chiang Mai is known as the 'Rose of the North'  It is surrounded by natural beauty and a unique indigenous culture. The town of Chiang Mai is calm and colourful. It is rich with life but never imposses upon you. It has a wonderful feel and we really wished we could have spent longer there.

Not quite roses but we saw a spectacular display of orchids at a butterfly and orchid farm in Chiang Mai

We enjoyed our first family Thai massage together at the Night Bazaar. Charlotte and Madison now know what they have been missing out on and I think it will be one in all in from now on. The Night Bazaar was one of the most enjoyable markets we have been to. It was relaxed, spacious and full of colour. The night we were there was Valentines Day and we happened upon an Australian owned Thai restaurant. The man from Mount Gambier who owned the restaurant was charming and informative. All the girls got roses, but then when he found out we lived within cooee of Manly oval he threatened to throw us out. We all had a good laugh and a great meal.

We took a drive out to the hill tribes and visited the Lisu, Karen, Hmong and Paduang tribes. Each hilltribe village has its own language and culture, many of them originally coming from neighbouring China and Burma. It was amazing for us to be able to meet and communicate with these villagers who live such vastly different lives from what we know in Dee Why. The girls were in awe of the long neck women. The weight of the metal rings around their necks was unbelievable, some were up to 6 or 7 kilos. The females of the tribe all wear the famous metal coils around their necks and knees and it has developed into a form of beautification throughout the years. Instead of lengthening the neck, the increasing metal bands over the years push down the shoulders leaving the women unable to do many tasks and if the coils were to be removed, their necks would be unable to support their heads.
The legend is that many years ago the village chiefs believed that when they left to go hunt and gather, the women would be left vulnerable to tiger and snake attacks. So to protect them, the men put metal coils around the women's necks and knees as these were the main areas of the body that the animals would attack.

Chiang Mai and its surrounds had so much to offer. See Charlotte's post on our fabulous day with the elephants.

 
                                                   

These incredible women weave beautiful silk fabric and sell their wares to visitors.

ExtraordinariLee

Bangkok Bonanza.

Bangkok Railway Station
Can you spot Charlotte trying to start up a Flash Mob?

After a 13 hour overnight train ride from Thung Song, we arrived in Bangkok. I had remembered the last time I was here which was 15 years ago and the sights and smells were quite shocking on both accounts, but this time it seemed different. The Western influences had filtered through as had the plumbing and the electricity, and it almost seemed civilized. The people before were all out to try to rip you off for as much as they could and had no conscience in doing so but this time even the tuk-tuk drivers were helpful, courteous and fun. There are still the people on the street hassling to sell you a trinket, but not right in your face. The sheer magnitude to the quantity of people is still overwhelming. It really is shoulder to shoulder where ever you go. We decided to use the sky-rail a lot which is the equivalent to our monorail but bigger and by far better. Herding thousands of people from one side of the city to other, it is seamless, efficient and done with no fuss. Well done the Thai people, we could learn a thing or two from you. Why don’t we have one from Palm Beach over the Spit into the city????

The markets on the other hand were just as I remembered, loads of people, shouting and begging for you to buy a Rolex or maybe a Gucci top, queues of tourists just like us wandering through the mayhem. We ended up in a market (Chatuchak Market) that had the reputation of being the biggest in the world which I would have no problem believing, it was just so vast you could never do it in a day. 9000 stalls! Anything from little squirrels to every type of reptile you could imagine. It really was a bit much for all of us in the heat of the day with 500,000 other people so we got a lunch from a street vendor for about $2 each and were on our way.

Pat Pong Night Markets

We also took a long boat down the Chau Phraya River through the canals to see more of what Bangkok is really like for the locals. A mass of shanty type houses by the river’s edge made up of disregarded corrugated iron that was rusted out before they got it, washing themselves and their clothes in the dirty water. Day to day life is hard for them. Dogs seem to be at every other step, mangy looking things looking for their next meal, sorting through the rubbish.

The next day we went to the Grand Palace where we were amazed at the size of the Reclining Budda at Wat Pho. A monument in gold that stretched about 100 feet long (actually 46 metres). It was in its own temple surrounded by other magnificent temples that showed off the craftsmanship of the carvers and the skills of the stonemasons that chiselled fabulous big warriors at the doorways. We were told that the King still resides in the grounds, Lucky King!

Paul

4 Island Tour.

Yesterday our family had a fantastic day; first we got a FWD tuk tuk truck up to the end of the beach. TThere was a long boat waiting for us to take us on a 4 island tour. Our captain had really crooked teeth but a very happy smile.

The weather was perfect, the sun was very bright and we all got a bit burnt.

Our first stop was Tup Island, there we went snorkelling between two little islands. I saw some zebra fish and a few sea cucumbers. The water was lovely, warm and so clear.

Next was a wild trip to Chicken Island. We stopped in the deep water and saw a million gazillion zebra fish. We were feeding them stale bread and swimming with them. It was a mixture of feelings, I was scared and so happy to have all the fish around me. Sometimes they gave you a bite. It was very crazy.

I have never seen so many fish.

And I was in the water with them!

Then we went around Koh Poda and had a stop for a picnic lunch.

Mum took lots of photos of the beautiful scenery & she also found a super tree-swing for me. We had another swim here, just next to our boat but there were lots of people at this place so we moved on.

 

          









Last stop was at RaiLay beach. We had a walk to the other end of the beach. At the other end of the beach:

 #Dad stopped to have a drink.

#We saw a very cute monkey.

#People were doing rock-climbing.

#People were jumping off a really high rock into the water.

#Lots of tourists here.

I had lots of fun on the 4 island tour.

M@D!$oN

What a brilliant day, but sooooo tiring.

We are now in Koh Klang near Krabi in Thailand. We are staying in a hotel called 'Islanda Village Resort'.

www.islandakrabi.com/

It is the tidiest, most beautiful and most welcoming hotel I have ever stayed in before. The staff are so kind and helpful, and they would do anything for you. At the start of the day we had an excellent buffet breakfast. Then Maisy and I were desperate to go for a bike ride.

We all had our own bike. I probably got the best bike because Maisy's bike chain kept falling off and we had to keep stopping so dad could fix it. Mum and dad had to keep swapping bikes because Mum had a boy's bike which had a wonky seat that kept spinning around. Dad had a bike that was way too small for him, but it had a very large seat, (that was the only thing that fit his giant size in this country!) Lucky me!

We rode past a school and lots of happy people by the side of the road.

There were hundreds of goats,water buffalo, and cats (mum and dad always tell us to never touch cats here. But when this lady just handed

cute cats to both Maisy and I,

we had to give them a hug,

what else could we do!)

          

             


Along the way we saw a house with a little shop selling beautiful batik. We stopped for a look and the lady showed us her workshop where they made the batik. It was so interesting and we asked lots of questions, then they let us make our very own sarong. The man showed us how to dip the metal stamps in wax and print them on the cloth, then the ladies pinned the cloth up so we could colour the patterns with dye. We all loved working on our family batik and talking to the lovely ladies. They let us keep our unfinished batik and mum bought 3 more. I picked a blue one (of course), Maisy chose a really nice green one and mum chose a black and yellow flower one.

When we finally got back to the resort we were sweating like mad, we had to have a swim. We had a nice cool swim in the lovely pool. Then we did 2 hours of school work with Dad as our teacher while mum had a heavenly massage. Then we had another swim, and learnt how to play beach volley ball with the kind staff. Next, dad had his relaxing massage while we did another 2 hours of schoolwork with mum. Just in time for an amazing sunset over the water. For dinner I had a delicious plate of plain pasta with Parmesan cheese on top. For dessert we shared a yummy banana split.

The hotel had a small selection of DVD's and Maisy had just finished reading 'Around the World in 80 Days' which they had, so we watched that. Even though it wasn't exactly the same as the book it was still really good and so funny with Jackie Chan as Passepartou. It was the end of a fantastic movie and a brilliant day and time for bed.

Good night from

Charlotte