http://sevenmonths.com Join me for 7 months in Southeast Asia! Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:31:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_604" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Wat Chaiwatthanarum, Ayuthaya"][/caption] Ayuthaya Thailand (population 90,000), the royal capitol of Siam from 1350 to 1767, has a fascinating history.  It’s located an hour and a half north of Bangkok.  It's a cheerful little modern city built in an around a beautiful but sad old city.  In ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/14/from-gilded-capitol-to-guillotined-buddhas/ I was motorbiking back from Thong Pha Phum to Kanchanaburi where I rented the motorbike and began my tour of the province when the engine suddenly cut out and I coasted to a complete stop.  It had sputtered at times before but this was the first time that it completely ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/13/a-mothers-love-the-same-all-over-the-world-or-thwarted-superheroes-scam-artists-and-foot-massages-welcome-to-kanchanaburi/ [caption id="attachment_587" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="morning fisherman"] [/caption]   When I peeked out my front door the next morning, mist was rising off the lake, partly shrouding a fisherman leaning out of his boat to collect the morning’s catch.  In the thirty minutes I took to shower and dress, the mist was gone, leaving ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/11/running-for-the-border-days-2-and-3-in-sangkhlaburi/ At long last, I now have video uploaded from my time at Thom's Elephant Camp in Pai.  If you'd like to see it, click here. http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/05/elephant-camp-care-to-revisit/   [caption id="attachment_573" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Kanchanaburi Province (and beyond) motorbike trip plan"][/caption] Kanchanburi province in Thailand lies west of Bangkok and butts up against the Burmese border. The province (similar to a state) gets few tourists compared with the rest of the country, but reputedly had beautiful mountains, rivers and waterfalls ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/05/kanchanaburi-province-thailands-wild-wild-west/ [caption id="attachment_561" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="quintessential Pai"][/caption] Pai was a particularly magical place and I thoroughly enjoyed the two weeks I spent there. It’s such a small friendly town that after only staying two weeks, I felt like I had lived there for years. Everywhere I went, I saw someone ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/11/03/pai-and-beyond/   [caption id="attachment_555" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="a curious trunk explores for bananas"][/caption] Some kids go to summer camp.  Some go to Spanish, Bible or Hebrew camp.  This kid went to elephant camp.   I spent the majority of two days last week at Thom’s Pai Elephant Camp riding and playing with elephants.  Although the ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/29/whos-hungry-raise-your-trunk/ [caption id="attachment_548" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="fried worms/caterpillars"][/caption] Have you ever considered how gracious you could/would be if someone hosted you for dinner and presented a big plate of fried grub worms as the premier dish?  Believe it or not, I did consider that a number of years ago when I was reading ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/20/never-say-never/ [caption id="attachment_524" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="the fabulous road that winds from Pai to Mae Hong Son"]   [/caption]   Imagine a jungle filled with banana and bamboo trees.  Imagine that your jungle isn’t on flat land, but is high in the mountains so that its treetops rise and fall dramatically.  Now, draw a squiggly line ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/18/smiley-monks-caves-with-coffins-and-free-range-cattle/ The signs were all there that Pai was a place I would love. On the drive from Chiang Mai, the flat to rolling terrain I’d seen through much of Thailand thus far was replaced by winding, mountainous roads thickly lined with banana trees which are by far my favorite tree ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/14/slice-schmice-ill-take-the-whole-pai/ Before I get into this entry, I want to acknowledge the economic crisis that’s affecting so many people in the US and around the world. I must admit that I feel a bit whiny talking about how I’m not connecting to Thailand when so many people have lost so ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/08/misadventures-in-chiang-rai-thailand/ Fourteen days into my alotted six weeks in Thailand and it has yet to become the “Land of Smiles” for me.  I feel I need to take some responsibility for this, however, so I have decided to do two things:  cease the constant comparisons to Bali and learn to speak some Thai.  ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/05/open-sesame-thailand/   [caption id="attachment_469" align="alignleft" width="156" caption="map of Thailand"][/caption]     (written September 30) I’ve been in Thailand for one week now.  I still have a hole in my heart for Bali and am not finding much to fill it thus far in “the Land of Smiles.”  I appreciated the irony of the grimacing, unsmiling immigration ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/03/thailand-at-last/ [caption id="attachment_452" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="hot springs at Banjar"]           [/caption] Banjar is a small laid back village whose primary attraction is a hotsprings that was discovered and developed by the Japanese occupying force stationed there during World War II.  Juha and I enjoyed the hotsprings in the morning where we had a great ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/10/01/the-rest-of-bali-in-a-nutshell/ When Juha and I arrived at Tanah Lot the previous evening, a ceremony was taking place (Naturally!  It’s Bali, afterall!) and the temple and area surrounding it were bustling with Balinese attending the ceremony and tourists photographing them and the temple itself.  I enjoyed the atmosphere, but also wanted to ... http://sevenmonths.com/2008/09/29/tanah-lot-to-banjar/