Seeing Thailand with James -

Nov 3

Ron and I got up early and caught a plane to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, about 1.25 hours from Bangkok.  Chiang Mai is known for its hill tribe crafts. We checked into our hotel then walked to a shop where I hope to find a wall hanging that friend’s in Portland has requested. Unable to find what was needed, I spoke with the shop owner who offered to have his daughter work up a couple of ideas and email them to me on Monday when she returned to work. We agreed this would work. If Gary and Edmund approved the design, I could wire the money from a Thai post office and he would mail the item to me at ‘our home’ in Phetchaburi. The house actually belongs to our friend Nattawan but she has offered use of the house to us for years.

We grabbed some lunch by the river. The setting was nice but the lunch was a disappointment. We grabbed a cab and went to a fair trade hill tribe shop, again looking for wall hangings. No luck. We went back to our room and rested then headed out to the Saturday night market. It was overwhelming, combined with the nightly night market. We grew tried of walking in the heat on concrete. We grabbed a quick bite and were refreshed. Back to shopping. I did find a great indigo batik tablecloth and some placemats but no napkins. We decided we could use the placemats if all else failed. On the way home we found a great massage spa and stopped in for an hour foot massage. Off the bed we went.

Nov 4

We had a great buffet breakfast of granola, fresh tropical fruit, bad coffee, juice and bread before heading out to Doi Suthep and a Hmong village high in the mountains above Chiang Mai. First we visited the village. It was small but we were surprised at the size of the commercial center. There was an are where we walked in a semi circle passing by vendors on each side, most of them selling the same items: traditional dress, bedspreads, and packets of Thai silk woven and cut to the size for a long straight skirt and jacket. We went through the crude little hill tribe museum that had a few items such a farm implements and several poster boards describing the various hill tribes. 

As we exited the museum we were in a lovely flower garden area so we walked around he garden for a while, spying a huge poinsettia ‘tree’. Ron said he had never seen any except those small potted varieties available in the stores around Christmas time. On the edge of the garden was a woman who was selling old traditional dress items and some new items. I found a traditional dress ‘apron’ and a new traditional hat from her. She was totally unwilling to bargain so I paid her full price and was delighted to have the tow items. As we neared the ended of the walk I found an older woman who was selling indigo ‘yardage’ by the rolls which were perfect for my needed napkins so purchased one of her rolls.   

Back into the cab we had hired and back down to Doi Suthep where there is a wonderful wat sitting among the trees in the mountains, a very picturesque setting. We rang the bells for good luck, lit some candles and placed a lotus on a reclining Buddha in memory of James deceased wife Heloise. One of my favorite sights were some little ‘monk gnomes’ we spied in a garden at the temple. They made me laugh.

We came back to town and went by the Hmong market, again in search of wall hangings. No luck. We ate lunch at our hotel and rested until time to go to the Sunday market. After venturing into the market I turned to Ron and told him I was tired of markets. SO we grabbed a tuk tuk and went to a lovely restaurant we had read about on the river. It was lovely setting with a chedi across the river reflected in the water. As we were dining a  small traditional boat drifted by with two tourists. It was quaint and fun to watch. We stopped by our massage place to take in a Thai massage before heading back to the hotel.

Nov 5

We flew back to Bangkok early in the morning. On the way to the airport our taxi had a flat tire so he flagged down a songthaew, a small pick up truck that has two bench seats and that are used as transportation. We moved our luggage into the truck and off we went. We found our friend James in much better health and had lunch across from our hotels. We went to our hotel and unpacked and rested briefly. James and I went to see the latest James Bond film then the three of us went to a new to us restaurant that was delicious. We went to bed early.

Nov 6

Today James invited us to breakfast at his hotel. Afterwards we went to see the Golden Buddha. It is solid gold, is 15’9” high and 12’5” wide and weighs 5 tons. It is 700 years old. The Buddha was discovered by accident in 1955. While extending the port, workers unearthed what appeared to be a plain stucco Buddha. The imager was kept at a wat under a makeshift shelter for 20 years until arcane dropped it while moving it to a more permanent shelter. The plaster cracked, revealing the gold beneath. It had probably been encased in stucco to hide it from Burmese ransackers.  Afterwards we had lunch and a rest. It is quite hot ad humid here so afternoon rests are a great way to get refreshed.