No "April Fools" here. It was never mentioned in my hearing anyway.
Left here at 7 AM and drove to Ubon. There we boared a plane and flew to Bangkok. It was only a little over an hour flight but we were given pizza for breakfast. Every flight serves food no matter the length. The pizza and a bottle of water were in a bag so it was fast to hand out. They came around with coffee, tea, coke or orange juice also.
At Bangkok we boarded a plane to Chiang Mai, which is in the northern part of Thailand. It is a little mountainous there; a little cooler, only 90, cleaner and prettier. We rented a car and did some touring on our own. Batty has been there before and sort of knew the area at least what she wanted to take me to see. With a map, she picked up at the airport and GPS we got around nicely.
We checked into the hotel and went sight seeing.
One of the first things we saw reminded me of Wisconsin.
Deer Crossing
Not sure why the music notes and how a deer would
be in this area of town with all the construction, traffic
and people. This is the middle of town.
A look out point going up Doi Suthep
This is one of twin mountains in the Shan Hills
1676 Meters/5499 feet tall
View of Chiang Mai from lookout above picture
A small falls in the rain forest on our way up.
Name of the mountain in Thai
Doi Suthep in English
Tree an decorations going to the temple
on the mount
More decorations
Was surprised they are artificial as we are going to
a temple made of real gold, at least covered in gold
Thai dancers by the temple
The girls are really flexible
The gold temple
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
This is a Theravada Buddhist temple
There are various kinds of Buddhist just as there
are different kinds of Lutherans in America
The cable track taking those of us that do not
want to climb the 300+ steps to the temple
Some of the steps
There are little shops all along the road for the
tourists to buy things. It is really commercialized
even an ATM so we can really spend.
A statue to someone near the steps
The road up and down this mountain is very curvey and steep. Batty did a great job with the curves.
We went back to the city had supper and then went to the Chiang Mai Night Safari.
Before the bus ride there was a little program of dancers. Most of these dancers are "girley boys".
Can hardly tell the difference.
The dancers
After the dancers there was a light show on the river.
I held Brian as Batty's camera is better than mine for night pictures
and would get better ones.
The next morning we were on our way at 6 AM. We had quite a distance to the Hot Springs.
Pan and Brian enjoying each other in the back seat.
No child's car seat required here.
One of the mountains along the way
An interesting house
Sankampaeng Hot Springs
Along the path to the hot springs
This a statue of eggs.
You will see why a little later.
A little river of the water from the springs
View of the mountains and water from the springs
Hot Sprins
Boil Egg
The water is 105 C - 221 F
Pan putting our eggs into the water
The springs
From the hot springs we went to the area where
bamboo umbrellas are made
There are several people sitting and painting on various things
Man painting intricate bird in gold on black umbrella
Lady painting butterflies and flowers on my cane
Various stages of bamboo unbrella making
I have more pictures of this but did not want to bore you.
A man using a foot pumped machine to do intricate
carving on wood
Shop where one can purchase the items made in
the shop.
Roof of the shop
The lights look like umbrellas
After lunch at a Vietnamese Cafe we went back up the mountain only farther up to the king's garden.
We passed this wall that was destroyed by the Burmaese.
Some of it is still standing and preserved for history.
Entrance to the King's Garden.
This is where his 'summer" home is, and several of
other dwellings and lots of lovely flowers.
Princess' house
Orchids
Sweet little boy with the flowers
Where dignataries stay when visiting Thailand
Fern path
Most of these flowers are the same ones I have
had in my flower garden at home.
A nice sitting and resting area
Queen's office
A place to have afternoon tea
King's mother's house
Giant Bamboo
Instead of going back down the mountain we decided to go farther up and see what was there. This turned out to be a mistake. The 2 lane, 2 way road turned into a 1 lane 2 way road then a gravel road and then a dirt road. We found out there was no outlet and we had to turn around. This road was so curvey and steep that it was worse than Lombard St in San Fransisco, California, and we had to go back over it. We had passed a group of road repair men and machines resting, well they were now working laying blocktop. Brian was very crabby as he needed mommy to feed him. Waiting for the road crew gave Batty a chance to feed him. Then the fun of getting around this mess on this very narrow road. We finally got around and back down the road. The scenery was beautiful if not so scarry. No pictures as I was holding Brian and helping Batty watch the road. Batty did a GREAT job of driving and we got down safely. As we rounded one curve and saw another immediately ahead plus a steep incline Batty would say "oh my" and keep on going.
We then went to the airport, returned the car and returned to Bangkok.
Checked into the hotel for a good night's rest for a big day Wednesday.
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