"The golden triangle" Tour

This was going to be a big day and we knew it!!! We had booked a tour to go right to the tip of Thailand to what they call "The golden triangle". It is where 3 countries meet with only a river separating them. We had a couple of stops along the way, so here goes... The first stop was the hot springs, this is a very very small version of rotorua, they had a place where you could buy eggs and cook them in the hot pools. Using a stick and string with a basket attached to the end of it, kinda like a fishing rod. It was more like a large parking lot, with natural hot spring running thru it, and a fountain made using the water. At first i thought it was a geyser but it just kept going, so I'm sure it was a fountain now.

An hour further down the road we got to "The White Temple". Oh my god, this place was just beautiful. A famous artist in Thailand built it and is still building it, to show his dedication to his spiritual Buddha etc, etc... 12 years so far he has been working on it, check out these photo's its just amazing...

Back in the van and off to the golden triangle next, maeymar-Thailand & Laos all meet at this point, separated by a river that runs right up from china all the way down. We got to boat it up the river and came across this amazing Buddha, then up to see the casino in maeymar(you are not allow to dock the boat tho), then across the other side to Laos. We were allowed to get out at Laos tho, they had a small village where you could buy lots of bargain's once again. Mike picked up a carton of cigarettes for $8, and i got a beautiful scarf for Bevvie for $4. They also had snake whiskey you could try and buy(wasn't game enough for that), and also armadillo whiskey too.

Back to Thailand and a 3 hour ride home again. I think we left around 7am and got back around 9pm. What a day!!!

Chiang Mai - A bit of culture!!!

Well we are still in Chiang Mai and Mike did a Thai cooking class. It was an all day course and he loved it. He feels much more confident about ordering thai food. After all that good food, we decided to get in some Muay Thai (Thai kick boxing), only watching of course. It was great we were right up close to the ring, and surrounding the ring and punters were lots of bars, it was a great party atmosphere. The first fighter was about 12 years old, and the boy he fought against was a little bigger but he held his own for most of it. Tough little bugger, however in the end his trainers thru in the towel(literally), they said it was getting to tough for him. I thought he did a great fight. We also saw a woman's fight, that was also great. And the men's fights well they are something else. They go hard at it. One guy was disqualified, another knocked out, it was great. The half time act was some lady-boys doing lip-sink, it gave you a bit of a laugh that's for sure. They called it a 'cabaret show'. The next fight Mike wanted to bet, so he picked his fighter(the larger more solid of the two fighters), i said 'OK i'll take your bet', so it was done, 20 B on the next fight. The smaller fighter was alot more quicker and faster and i won!!! hee hee... He was sure he would win 2nd time round, needless to say i walked away 70B up that night. I was stoked.

Thailand also has great cultural experiences. We went to a night show, where you sit down on the ground and have a traditional Thai meal. Then after the meal they show you all their traditional dances and explain the meaning of them. The 'Nail dance' i think is the most common, but we also got to see the men do a sword dance. And the hill tribes put on a display of their dances as well. It wasn't great balls of excitement, but I'm glad i went and experienced it.

Chiang Mai - Kingdom of Lanna

14 Hours on the train, and i can tell you we wont be doing that again in a hurry!!! First night here and i ordered a chicken soup (i'd tried it before and it wasnt so hot), what you find out pretty quick is that food can vary from restaurant to restaurant, its never the same. Sooo... i've got my chicken soup, tasting it yummy as... about 1/4 way thru it becames so fuckin hot i cant stand it, nearly have fit at table, water and loads of it etc... mike sitting there laughing, yes so funny, i'd eaten a green pepper which apparrently your suppose to throw out. So i cant eat it anymore, mike has it, my turn to laugh, he starts sweating, gulps of air, water etc... i'm pissing myself laughing... Was hotter than he thought!!! Lesson learnt.

Hired a scooter today, it was great. Chiang Mai is a small little city and the old part is really easy to find your way around. We visited the cultural muesum, it was all about the history and culture of chiang mai. It was very interesting. Then we found a beautiful park in the middle of the old city, so we stopped to have a look around. Mike tried some street vendors dried fish, yuk yuk yuk... it stunk!!! We came across some old guys playing what was like NZ happy sac game, but they use a bigger cane type ball, and they have to kick it high into a 3 side triangle net. It was great to watch. Late evening was here before we knew it so we strolled on thru the night bazaar. Massive amounts of street stalls with everything from t-shirts, jandals, keyrings, scarfs etc... A shoppers paradise.

A new day and we had a 1 day trip planned. First was to visit an orchid farm, that was very interesting, the orchids grow just hanging there, not in the ground like i thought. Then we visited a thai village, it consisted of 6 different tribes, most orginated from burma. The one that got me the most was the long neck tribe, they wear brass rings around their necks and once they put them on they never, NEVER, take them off. These brass rings also weigh up to 6 kg, and even the little girls wear them. The little girl in the picture is 9 years old, and they go to work with their parents in the jungle and feilds as young as 6. It made me very sad. They are warn to protect their necks against tiger attacks, hopefully by that time one of the men have come to save you. Fingers crossed a... There was also the long ear tribe, they have really long earrings in their ears, massive holes, and i have no idea why!!!

We then did a small walk thru the paddy fields and came to the elephant trek, while it was great to ride the elephants, it was very hot and it wasnt thru the jungle as we were told. Still how many people get to ride the elephants a!!! Cant complain.

We then went to a beautiful waterfall, at first Mike and I were the only ones that got in. It was fantastic, so refreshing... then we got joined by 2 others, it was a blast, the others in our group sure did miss out on that one. White water rafting next, our day was just jam packed. Mike's first turn and he loved it. Only a level 2 but shit, i can now say i've been rafting in Thailand, not only white water either, we changed onto traditional bamboo rafts, and paddled further down the river. It was heaps of fun and i loved it.

Pippi hits Thailand

Made it to Thailand with no hassles, always good, as usual it's warm and it's midnight. On the flight from sydney to Bangkok we got to stretch out, the flight was nearly empty. First hotel was ok, shower is like a heat pump water thing like mum had for her home hairdressing. Was very sick before i left, but am starting to feel better, so glad i went to Doc's before i left i can tell you. The prices of Thailand are starting to kick in, breakfast 60B for the 2 of us, that's approx $2.50 NZ. Mike went for a walk and had his first thai haircut, very nice indeed as well, that cost a whopping $4NZ. 2nd day we heading into Bangkok, I took my tablet with out food this morning and had my first and hopefully last chuck up. Also found the Thai version of scaffolding, check that picture out, yes it is bamboo. Went to MBK mall today, wow... it's 7 floors high and each for is jam packed with stalls, so much so you can get lost on each level, it was great. I got some sunglass and mike bought some shorts. I also got my teeth whitened, Zoom laser whitening. Smile!!! Bloody hotel we are at is brand new, very nice but over 76 steps up to our room in unbearable heat. Only 1 night in this place i can tell you! Khao San Road today, what a great place. The street is blocked off so there is lots of street stalls, bars and street vendors just begging you to let them rip you off. I had a ball. Got my hair braided, looks great. The first quote was 1500 B, then i saw a girl walking and ask her how much she paid and where. 400B was what i ended up paying. Took over an hour to do and only $16NZ, Lucky Pip they call me, hee hee... Bought a few little things. And sat in the bars and watched everyone else get ripped off and find their way thru the Thai maize. Next day we decided to leave Bangkok and head north to Chiang Mai, so booked an overnight train for the next day. Then back to Khao San road for another small shop. Summer dress and earrings later I was ready for my first taste of street food. Pad Thai, and it was quite yummy. Thought we might try and catch a thai boxing match, 2000B, gave it a miss. Last day in Bangkok and we spent it a Pantip Plaza, major eletronics and computer plaza, Mike was in his element buying up large all kinds of games, i had some very quite time before going to the train station. Best foot massage ever is at the Bangkok train station. Wow... it was quiet, relaxing and just amazing. Sooo... we are walking along side the train, and i'm saying to Mike "thank god we are not in those carriages, what a dump!" Keep walking, keep walking... oh shit, we are in those carriages... Pip was not happy. However once we got in there it actually wasnt to bad. Comfortable enough. The trip was ok as well but long 14 hours. And not because its a long distance but the train is that fuckin slow its not funny. You can get there by bus in 9 hours (should have check that out a!!) Oh and you only want to go once to the toilet if you absolutely have too. Never ever walk across or along the train tracks, yes you have to crouch when peeing and it goes directly onto the tracks. The good side, lots to see, rice paddy fields for miles, and beautiful jungles to look at too.