These are a couple of cats that live in a temple... probably abondoned due to poor health. The Thai word for "cat" is "meow".

inside a temple

Wat Chedi Luang , about 600 years old

Why didn't Wal-Mart think of this? On the front of a hotel in Chiang Mai, a Christmas tree is lit, topped with the Star of David.

Chiang Mai life

Life has been moving along very slowly compared to the previous month. Back then, I was darting around from town to town, doing something exciting every day. Being in the big city has turned things around. Doing something each day isn't a priority because I have so much time here. Well, I have to admit that on some days I wake up krusty and resolve to waste the day doing nothing.

Do to the availabilty of so much food, I have changed my eating schedule. I now have about four or five feeding sessions daily. If I go for a bike ride, I'll get some sorta breakfast, usually boiled rice and meat or noodles. Around the noon o 'clock hour, I'll have a rice dish or more noodles. Late afternoon is prime time for fried foods to be coming out of hot grease... I have a couple places earmarked for freshly fried pork chops and chicken wings when the clock hits 4 PM. The sunsets at 6:30ish (a consistent thing year-round) and I look for something substantial to eat, maybe a curry dish with rice or a stir-fry. After midnite, I have a favorite place near my guesthouse that serves up pad-thai and rice with chicken (or pork) with basil and chili peppers for 50 cents each. With all that said, I still only spend about $5-6 a day on food. (I'm not sure I'll be able to eat in good conscience at Commander's Palace again.)

I probably go for a bike ride about four or five times a week. If I feel only slightly krusty, I'll still force myself to go for a road ride to sweat out the alcohol from the night before. Last week I was able to do an 80 km ride without any difficulty and probably had enough gas to go another 20km, if it wasn't getting close to nightfall. I found a great set of bike trails behind the city's athletic sports center. (The center has a giant stadium, five indoor stadiums, tennis court, swimming pool and even a velodrome. I tried to ride the velodrome, but couldn't build enough speed on my mountain bike to successfully stay on the almost vertical edges of the oval-shaped loop.)

Last week there was a week-long festival called Loi Kratong. People release paper lanterns that rise in the air due to burning paper in the center (much like a hot-air balloon). The concept is that the bad sins of the past year will fade away. Hundreds of lanterns are released each night, giving the effect of the sky coming under artillery fire, except the artillery is rising instead of descending. Floats made of banana leaf carry lit candles and are released down the river. The festival gives everyone a reason (though I don't think anyone here ever needs a reason) to light fireworks and firecrackers and toss them anywhere and everywhere.

Winter is slowly setting in; temperatures are falling down to probably low sixties at nite, but the days are still warm... probably low eighties.

more food

Crickets: it's a big thing in Chiang Mai to eat crickets, beetles and other bugs. It's supposed to be a great source of many vitamins. I only had one cricket... just one. It tasted and had the consistency of popcorn. Not disgusting, just conceptually I was grossed out.

Steamed Pork buns: These are basically the same thing as what is found in Chinatown - white dough stuffed with a pork filling (also available are sweet jelly and bean curd) and steamed. However, there are many varieties to this. My favorite so far is found in Krabbi - they use shredded pork and spice it up with chili peppers. Bangkok has a fancy version where they use shredded pork with a piece of hard-boiled egg and shitake mushroom. Up in ChiangMai is the closest thing to Chinatown in North America - BBQ pork bits with a red tangy sauce.

Crispy mini-crepes: street vendors make a crepe the size of a billiard ball and add a filling of coconut and/or green fruit jelly, which I think may be guava. The crepe batter is poured on a hot surface just long enough to get a toasty brown color on one side, then is removed. By the time it cools, it is almost as crispy as a fortune cookie.

Penang curry: uses a red curry base, but the heat is tempered a little bit and peanuts are added. Very tasty; so far my favorite curry. Origin is from Malaysia's Penang region.

Som Tom salad: unripened papaya is shredded then pounded with sliced carrots, tomatoes, palm sugar, chili peppers (usually many), Thai eggplant and garlic. Can be very hot.

Thai ceviche: raw fish marinated with lime juice, sliced kaffir lime leaves, garlic and lotsa chili peppers.

l'il wieners wrapped with won ton wrappers and deep fried, served with a chili pepper/ketchup sauce: surprisingly very tasty, but of course, it's fried!

sausages: many varieties are offered, but I've only tried one. It was a chicken sausage with chili peppers and garlic. I tasted something crunchy and got grossed out, thinking it was probably bone. So far, this has ended my craving for sausage (such a shame, I know).

Roti with fruit: simliar to the Muslim Roti gai. A pancake with fruit filling like pineapple or banana. I'm not a big fan because they add a thickened condensed milk sauce and granulated sugar. It's just too soggy.

Pork riblets: cut-up ribs, about 1-inch in size, deep fried and served with thinly sliced garlic, shallots and chili peppers.

Roast duck, sliced and served over rice : just like what I could get in Chinatown.

jok: Chinese rice porridge served with meat. very similar to what is in Chinatown, except this place (in Chiang Mai) blends the rice to a finer degree.

Dim sum: har gow, sui mai, pork bunds, crab meat and mini-corn cob, ground fish & something... basically what's found in Chinatowns, except they are served with a soy-vinegar sauce (savory & sour), which I'm not a big fan of. Just like in Chinatown, to get full on this dim sum costs more than the average Thai meal.

Deep fried pork chop (also pork shoulder blade): battered just like fried chicken... of course it's delicious!

Pepsi Latte: Do they have this in America? It's a new product here in Chiang Mai. When I touched the bottle in a restaurant, the waitress quickly and repeatedly advised me against ordering it. When a Thai person doesn't want to sell me something, that says a lot!

Green curry burger: my new favorite food?!? The meat is seasoned with a green curry before it is formed into a patty. Tastes great! The chili flavor is predominant over the coconut.

beef jerky: It's about time I found some jerky! Beef is thinly sliced, marinated with soy, garlic, probably fish sauce, then sun-dried. The version I had wasn't as good as I was hoping.

Crispy pork: a whole slab of pork is deep fried until it is crispy like what we know as a pork rind. The skin and meat gets really crispy, enough to withstand being in a broth with noodles.

Peanuts: many varieties - Candied with sugar and sesame seeds (made to give everyone cavities), roasted with salt, pan-fried with salt, kaffir leaves and chili peppers (not as good as it sounds... I didn't like the lime flavor), cashews aplenty

Banana chips: thinly sliced chips with an almost caramel-like crispy coating. Very addicitve.

Waffles: a big dessert treat in ChiangMai. Fruity fillings, chocolate fillings, it's even served with a hot dog on a stick.

Kow Thome: similar to jok, but Thai style. Leftover rice is reheated in a tasty broth and served with meat, cilantro and green onions.

first few weeks in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second biggest city and is located in the northern part of Thailand. The first impression of the city I got was the feel of an ancient city. The Old City is in the center and is surrounded by a moat. Remnants of brick walls are scattered along the moat and give it it's historical feel.

I found a guesthouse in the northeastern corner of the Old City - single bed with bathroom inside (as opposed to a shared bathroom) and hot water for the shower. Cable TV is also included, but for some reason, ESNP is not included, so I get screwed on any chance for NFL action. All this for only 150 baht a day ($3.75)!

Around the area are many cheap food spots. Most of the places I've been eating at usually cost about 60-cents a plate. Mainly noodles and fried rice. (There will be a bigger food write-up soon.)

The northern region of Thailand is supposed to be a mecca for mountain biking. My first trip was a ride up the Doi Poi mountain. The information that I was going with told me that there was a Buddhist temple 5km up, then the national park entrance with bike paths another 4km. What I didn't realize was that it was a steep, constant uphill climb.

When I got to the park, I found that the one bike trail was not really feasible for bikes after the rainy season. Every 20 meters, I had to get off the bike because of fallen trees and braches on the path. After 1km of this, I turned around and continued up the road/mountain to get to the top. Had I realized that the top was another 8km up, I probably would have turned around.

As I climbed upwards, I kept thinking that the end would be near or I would just keep climbing until the road started going down. That didn't happen until the 17th kilometer. What kept me going were the street signs notating that Phuping Palace (pronounced pooping palace) was coming up. Using my Beavis voice, I repeatly said "pooping" until reaching the summit. The payoff was a nice 24 minute descent down the winding roads.

The next time I went to this mountain, I hired a taxi to take me to the top (120 baht ~ $3). From there I found what I have been reading about - single-track trails alongside the mountain with rolling hills, surrounded by lush green trees and plants and flowers. The terrain was varied, too. I found a trail that led downhill and was as wide as a fire road. Due to my unfamiliarity with the trails, I took it slow and mellow. ( I didn't want to drift off the side during a turn, of course).

That turned out to be wise, because the surface degraded into a rocky terrain. For a solid two hours, I was going downhill, but not pedaling. It was a complete upperbody workout because all I was doing was using the breaks and steering between rocks. Eventually I made it to the bottom of the mountain, but on the opposite side and had to go another 25 km on the road to get back to Chiang Mai. No complaints - I figured something like that would happen.

Chiang Mai also has one of the highest concentration of temples in the country. On one block in particular, there are four alongside and across from each other. It's a good thing that they are buddhist, otherwise I can see how turf wars could break out. I spent a couple of days wandering around, but it got to a point of sensory overload and they started to all look the same.

photos from southern Thailand

My understanding of this kind of tree is that the roots do not grow too deep in the ground. Instead, they grow outside of the ground, resulting in a weird looking tree trunk.

There is one intersection in the heart of Krabbi that has these cavemen holding the streetlights .

Limestone cliffs overlook Rai Ley beach. As you can see, high season has arrived with the influx of tourists.

Above are the tree vines that I saw in Koh Sok rainforest. These vines are about three stories in length and seem strong enough to support the body weight of a human (though I didn't try this theory out).

A wall of foliage has spread across two trees over the river in Koh Sok.

Above is the sight of the beach party. The beach is actually double the length of what is shown.

self portrait on James Bond island.

on the move again

Oct 30 @ 7:30 AM - left Phang-Nga (where I was hanging with Debbie and Eric) by bus
Oct 30 @ 10:30 AM - arrive in Phun Phin train station
Oct 30 @ 4:30 PM - leave Phun Phin via train
Oct 31 @ 5:30 AM - arrive in Bangkok train station
Oct 31 @ 2:30 PM - leave Bangkok via train
Nov 1 @ 6:30 AM - arrive in Chiang Mai train station

Yipes! 33 hours of actual travel time; 47 hours from start to finish. At least I was able to take a shower in Bangkok's train station. I was getting sweaty and stinky after the second leg of travel. The long hours did take its toll on me. After a short nap in my hotel room this morning, I realized that I left my sunglasses in the train's sleeper compartment. I will miss them (I've actually had them since my days at Helm... some seven years ago).