Dissing the Illusion

Have come to the conclusion that I would much rather be a traveler and experience the world than a tourist who just photographs it. Have also come to the conclusion that I'm not crazy about touring by myself.

Chiang Mai has a reputation for being the craftmanship place of Northern Thailand. The materials for sale in any of the three main markets - Wororot, Sunday Market, and Night Market - are beautiful and certainly inexpensive according to the exchange rate. I found some cool stuff, but had a really hard time getting into the whole bargaining atmosphere because the work is of such good quality and because I felt guilty for taking advantage of how desperate they are to sell anything. I'm sure I paid more than I could have in some instances, but still got some smokin' deals. The two things I REALLY wanted were more than I was comfortable spending and I had no way to get them home.

Made it up to the temple of Doi Suthep. Built on the mountain, the temple is visible from the city below - especially when the sun glints off of the gilded chedi and the four parasols around it. One of the most striking features is the 300-step staircase flanked by giant Naga (snake) figures. After that we went to a hilltribe village to see their museum and learn about their lifestyle. My guide is originally from the Lisu tribe, so he was very informative. Finally, for another hundred baht he drove me to a location known as The Old City. In 1984 this area was being developed by relatively expensive homes when the builders discovered some ruins that are believed to date back to about 900 ad. One of the landowners donated the land, and now it is a historic site. There are about 5 temples, and evidence that this was where the original capitol was until a catastrophic flood destroyed it. The people simply relocated to the present location, and no one knew anything about the old city until a few decades ago. There are indications of many more ruins but unfortunately land disputes have prevented them from being unearthed.

I spent a whole day just walking around the older part of the city and exploring. I looked for a book on Chiang Mai history, but there was nothing available in English. For a relatively small city, there are temples Everywhere. Some are fascinating, like the one with a chedi atop a base surrounded by elephants; or the one decorated with dancing women that houses the oldest library of Buddhist materials in the city, if not the entire country. One was as elaborately carved and decorated as all the rest but not stuccoed and gilded; left in its natural teak. Beautiful! I'm looking forward to getting home and uploading pics of everything, so check back in a couple of weeks.

When I was burned out on gold leaf I wandered around for a while and got the idea for soemthing to take home. Couldn't make myself understood, and inadvertently offended a couple of people until I happened to run across an English - speaking man who just returned after 30 years in Chicago. His daughter owns a shop and while she didn't have what I was looking for, he wrote down the Thai phrase I needed, then offered me a ride on his scooter to the downtown area where I might find what I was looking for. That was awesome ... until I realized I was outside the walled city, the older part; in Chinatown; and had absolutely no idea where I was or how the heck to get back. Plus, that was the first time I was really made to feel like an unwelcome intruder. In any case, I finally came across the Night Market and was able to find my way from there: I hired a tuk-tuk.

I met several great people in the last few days: Maria, the young German woman who will be working at the School For Life here (it is the affiliate school of the one Net works at in the South); three young people from Scotland who invited me to have a beer and suck at pool with them; three Veterinary students from Ohio; Jack and Jess who referred me to the guesthouse where I'll be staying in Sukothai; Roger, the man who gave me a lift to Chinatown; Mr. T, who gave me a guided tour to Doi Suthep, the Hmong village, and the Old City; the woman who lives in Japan but is returning to take care of her ailing mother... so many really interesting people.

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Transportation is interesting. There are several varieties of bus, depending on where you're going and how much you're willing to spend to get there. Once you've arrived at your destination city you can take a sangthaew, tuk-tuk, or city bus.

Sangthaews are simply pickup trucks with a seat on each side of the bed and a covered canopy. Of the older ones, they are almost uniformly 1980 and older and Datsuns, but seem to be in fairly good running order. The newer ones are almost all Fords and Toyotas, although Isuzu is the brand of choice for personal vehicles.

Tuk-tuks are three-wheeled covered motorbikes which sound like they run on lawnmower engines. They're a relatively cheap and convenient ride, if you can stand the fumes.

So far my feet have been my best ride, but I'm heading to Sukothai for some exploring tomorrow. I understand the ruins are spread across a 14-km area, so maybe I'll hire a driver.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!