  November
2002
Chiang Mai (Thailand) and Myanmar (Burma) |
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Bangkok to Chiang Mai by Train
Early
November 2002 |
|  If
you've ever had the good fortune of taking a train cross-country,
you'll appreciate the 16-hour ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
It's a beautiful trip through the mountains and jungles of Thailand.
It's scenic beauty was enough to keep us pleasantly occupied for
most of the journey and we also had food, our computers and our
friends to keep us company.
The trains are very comfortable. We took
the sleeper-train leaving Bangkok at 10pm and arrived the next day
in Chiang Mai at 2pm. The cars are very cozy. However, I
recommend you bring your own food...
See
what a THAILAND TRAIN JOURNEY is like!
(CLICK HERE)
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Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand
Tuesday,
November 04, 2002 |
| Today we went to the Maesa Elephant Camp. It
was amazing having the chance to hang out with such fantastic animals.
 ((Move
your mouse over the photograph to see the elephants move!))
You
can see our whole ELEPHANT ADVENTURE by clicking here:
The Maesa Elephant Camp |
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Mae Sai, a Thai Border Town with Myanmar (Burma)
November 7, 2002 |
| In order to spend more
time here in Thailand, we need to get our Thai visas renewed every
30 days. They only give you 30 days per entry, and we were
out of time.
 The
fastest and easiest way to get the visas renewed is to make a sprint
(or casual jaunt) to the border. The nearest
neighbor to Thailand on the north is Myanmar previously called Burma.
We rented a jeep and took a trip to Mae Sai, the border town with
Myanmar. (To see a MYANMAR MAP click
here!)
I wrote about our adventure in:
"THE MYANMAR (BURMA) ADVENTURE"
 Excerpt:
Spending a few hours in Burma or as it is now called Myanmar,
as we renewed our visas: sat up on the top of a hill and overlooked
Burma from Thailand - it is amazing to see people walking around
in another country about 500 meters away from you!! The atmosphere
and the ambience is VERY different - only meters apart!
You can see the bridge arch from Thailand to Burma in the photo
above. |
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Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand
11th
January 2002 |
 We
are enjoying eating in our favorite organic vegetarian restaurant,
Tuk Tuk's. We are eating so healthily.
I have not had a single sweet, candy, chocolate for the last 7 months
- I feel fantastic!
We ride our motorbike around through the alley ways of this amazingly
beautiful city, passing temple after temple and ancient Chedi's.
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 TheThai
people on the road side sell fruit and vegetables and get ready
for the night of trading.
Most people do their shopping at night time,
and they go to the markets - the atmosphere is so vibrant and alive.
I feel so inspired as I ride on the back of the bike, and feel
so grateful for the life I lead.
It is a choice to live this type of life in the midst of all the
pressures of society. It is so freeing. I support anyone in making
a change happen in their life. |
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| The City of Temples, The Rose of the North
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
11 November 2002 |
| Chiang Mai - what can I say… At first we didn't
really take to the city - we were expecting something very quaint
like Cambridge in England, and we got a smaller version of Bangkok
- or so we thought... |
 For
the first few days after we arrived it was wet and rainy and very
cold in the evenings, something we are
not used to as we have lived in the sunshine constantly for the
last 2+ years.
I caught a cold…unheard of!!
THEN…something happened and now we just LOVE this city!!
[It has been sunny ever since - hot hot
hot!!].
For the last 2 weeks we have been staying in the Merana Hotel,
at 360Baht per night [$9.00 per night]
with air conditioning, maid service, a fridge, hot water, a GREAT
view of the mountains, the temples and the sunset!! |
| 
Vistara and Nirav are with us.
[If you want
to hear more about our overnight train journey from Bangkok to Chiang
Mai you can read about it here: Thailand
Train Journey].
There are so many temples here; everywhere you turn there seems
to be something beautiful to look at. It really is The City of Temples!!
The temple on the left here is Doi Suthep, which overlooks the city
of Chiang Mai from the mountains. See more of it here:
*** Wat Phra That Doi Suthep ***
one of the North's Most Sacred Temples
(Click to visit) |
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Some facts about
Chiang Mai:
- Chiang Mai is the capital of the North and a very interesting
place to visit. The town is not as quiet as it used to
be a few years ago, but still it is possible to walk around
and have a good time.
- Just few kilometers out of town
and you are in another world, where the time stopped one
hundred years ago.
- The mountains in the province are
green and the climate is mild; the perfect place for a
vacation and trekking. When you go trekking you will find
mostly secondary forest, a lot of bamboo a very few big
trees, but the view from the hills is great and you will
find there the most interesting thing of all: hill tribes.
- Hill tribes are tribes of people
coming originally from Burma, China and other bordering
countries and now living in the heart of the north the
same way they used to do hundreds of years ago: in strict
contact with nature. [We have heard comments from people
who have been trekking that you only watch the hill tribes
from a distance - you are not permitted into their villages
with them. It was said that there are about 20 people
maximum in each village].
- In the villages modernization is
coming fast, of course, especially in the areas most visited
by the tourists. If you have spirit of adventure you can
rent a motorbike in town and go exploring by yourself.
You will find villages in the most beautiful areas, in
the middle of nowhere, in places where time has no meaning.
- Chiang Mai, also Chiengmai or Kiangmai,
is located in the northern highland 696 km from Bangkok
is the second largest metropolitan city of Thailand.
- It is the capital of Chiang Mai
Province, on the Ping River, about 130 km (about 80 mi)
from the border with Burma.
- It is the chief economic center
for the northern part of the country and the northern
railroad terminus.
Chiang Mai is truly the land
of warm hospitality and natural wealth. Though modernization
has crept into this place for decades, Chiang Mai still
retains its traditional charm and centuries-old culture.Its
people are gentle, soft-spoken and proud of their heritage.
- Many tourists are attracted by the
ruins of 13th- and 14th-century temples in the old section
of the city, on the western bank of the river, and by
the nearby Wat Phra Dhat Doi Suthep temple complex, believed
to contain relics of Buddha.
- Besides tourism, industries include
trade in locally produced teak and agricultural products,
and the production of traditional silverware, lacquer
ware, pottery, and other handcrafted items.
- Chiang Mai University (1964) and
the Northern Technical Institute (1957) are here.
- The Lao people constitute the city's
main ethnic group. Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 on the
site of an 11th-century settlement as the capital and
religious center of the Lanna Thai Kingdom. It was part
of Burma from 1558 until 1775. Thereafter, the city was
semi-independent until it was incorporated into modern
Thailand (Siam) in the late 19th century.
- Population in 1990 was 167,000.
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| Buddha Temples in Chiang
Mai, Thailand
9th of November, 2002 |
|  Some
of the things we have done since we have been here were just divine:
A lot of our first few days was spent visiting
** Magnificent & Glorious Buddha Temples **
(click to visit them too)
We have also been traveling by motorbike to destinations of great
beauty. Feeling the sun and the wind on our faces! Sitting in "The
Roof Top Bar" under the stars looking out over the ancient city
walls of Chiang Mai with the festival in full swing on the roads below.
Living a life of Joy and adventure! But, as per the link above,
we walked around many golden spires that reach up high into the
sky. A beautiful sight!
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Someone got a Toothache
9th
of November, 2002 |
|  The
Thai people are naturally filled with Fun. They really have fun
in their lives NOT just as something extra to do, as we have in
the West but as a way of "being", they turn work into
fun and seem to be consistently friendly and smiling!!
They are such a wonderful race of people to hang out with - their
energy is catching!! |
So we spent 2 weeks here and had booked our tickets
out of here to leave yesterday along with Nirav and Vistara, we
had decided to go to Koh Lanta, an allegedly "gorgeously beautiful"
island on the South West Coast of Thailand in the Andaman Islands
- the diving there is among the best in the world!
THEN I got a toothache…. |
 So
I went to the dentist and am being treated for an emergency root
canal. In the space of the toothache we realized that the dental
system here is amazing and the prices are unbelievable. So all the
dental work I have been talking about having for YEARS is now actually
happening… I am so excited!!!
Tonight I started "teeth bleaching" which is only $180USd
instead of around $500USd in the USA!! You won't recognize me in
my new pictures - maybe you will see my teeth from now on!! We are
both getting work done over the next month…so we made the
decision to stay here in Chiang Mai for the next month. We rented
the motorcycle for $50Usd for the whole month; a full tank of petrol
is $1.00! We rented the hotel room for 7000Baht, which is $175USd!!
It really is amazing to live here, such a inexpensive place and
so divine!!
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Life in Thailand
Monday,
11th November 2002 |
 So
today is Monday and we have had a ball. Slept in this morning as we
were watching "Simone" - new Robert De Niro movie - on the
laptop until late, eating banana chips and cashew nuts!! For breakfast
we have fresh fruit [pineapple, apple, chiku & banana] with natural
yogurt and then muesli sprinkled on top!! [YUMMY]. Then we walked
to the local temple and sat in the gardens with some of the monks
and meditated for an hour - it was enchanting. |
Now we are sitting in our hotel room after the sunset
behind the mountains, I am sharing with you and Vibodha is working
on our finances. We are listening to Peter Gabriel "In your eyes"
from the mini-disk player and the travel speakers - life is so wonderful,
I am moved, touched and inspired to be alive! I have a dental appointment
in one hour, see everything happens here at night!
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|  As
you may know by now, we recently walked away from our partnership
with Mastery International. We took a step back and thought about
what was important in our lives and realized that the pursuit of
money for the sake of money was not what we wanted- the money has
to come from serving people or from our passions and we decided
to move on. We were living someone else's dream not ours, and eventually
it took its toll. So we moved on.
We have put ourselves in a space of "nothingness" which
was a little scary but mostly very exciting and relieving and that's
where we are today, hanging out in Chiang Mai getting dental work
done, completing on outstanding issues, meditating in divine temples,
chilling with fun Thai people and happy go lucky fellow travelers
- all of us on an inward and outward journey of discovery!!
 The
picture above right is taken at Wat Doi Thung near Mae Sai.
Check out the exquisite architecture Wat Phra That Hariphunchai in
Lamphun: It is one of the holiest places in the North.
***
Wat Phra That Hariphunchai ***
(Click to visit) |
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| Loy Krathong Festival
Chiang Mai, Thailand
18th, 19th, 20th November 2002 |
|  The
Loy Krathong Festival, celebrated around the night of the full moon
in November was AMAZING.
The riverside, covered with crowds of people... the fireworks...
the parade...!
I can only describe it as one of the most lively celebrations
on the planet. The sheer POWER of the celebration was awe-inspiring. |
| 
The festival consists of two very special things.
Floating Krathongs on the water as a prayer of thanks for luck
and life, and lighting specially designed lanterns which float up
into the sky like stars. (image right)
There's a lot to see and do at the Festival, including THREE PARADES
(one each night), fireworks, releasing the Krathongs, food, and
of course the crowds of merry makers...
Loy
Krathong, 2002
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND
CLICKTO READ THE ADVENTURE |
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Loy Krathong Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand
18th, 19th, 20th November 2002 |
|  Well
the Loy Krathong Festival was amazing!! In the west we would have
had the party all on one day -but here in Thailand they made the
party last for 3 days and it kept getting better and better!! In
the guide books it was described like a scene from "Apocalypse
Now" and we could see why....the bangs going off constantly
from people letting off fireworks and firecrackers!! The music,
the crowds the beautiful floats - it is a REAL TRAVELLING FIRE STAR
RECOMMENDATION to be in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong. The city suits
this festival so well. The river was filled with people making offerings
and pay homage to the Buddha. To experience the festival for yourself
check out the link just above.
For some history on the festival
check out here:
The Origins of Loy Krathong |
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Hatha Yoga
Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand - 26th November |
Good morning to you all. Things here in Chiang Mai
are great. It has been raining yesterday and today so far so we
are taking the opportunity to update you on our adventures!!!
|
 We
have been doing HATHA YOGA EVERYDAY and it is amazing how
much our bodies are changing and appreciating this time.
We do YOGA for 2 hours a day and already the things we can now
do that we couldn't before are well worth the effort to go!!
If you are in Chiang Mai I highly recommend
working with this YOGA MASTER, Marcel at Hatha Yoga. Check out his
web site here:
Hatha Yoga
We are participating in PREKSHA MEDITATION. Preksha
is the process of awakening your reasoning mind [viveka] and thereby
controlling your passions and emotions.
We are finding the results astounding!! Why not look up a Hatha
Yoga Centre near you and experience this freedom for yourself!!
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We have decided to stay here
in Chiang Mai now over Christmas and the New Year. The
YOGA is a big factor in our decision, and of course the fact that
this place is a divine haven!!
We are getting lots of completion work done, E.J. has done 90%
of all the back up on our computers, a
much needed task [and a huge job!].
 We
have cleared our computers of everything we no longer need and have
completed the Australian Immigration Application.
I am now going through the exercises in "THINK
AND GROW RICH", the great
book by Napoleon Hill - if you have not read it yet....buy it...it's
awesome!! [It's 40/45 yrs old now].
So rainy days in Chiang Mai are fun!! It is great to be in communication
with so many of you. See you later, bye for now!!! |
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