Some new friends ... and some old ones

Today we made some new friends.

Some elephants at the elephant farm (we could feed them, also little ones, saw them bathing and doing some tricks such as painting)

Some monkeys

and some old ones ....

Visited an orchid farm + butterflies (just one picture today - tomorrow we visit the floral exhibition, so there will be enough pictures of flowers ;-)

Of course, when talking about 'old friends' I meant 'Wats' ;-)

We visited the Doi Suthep on top of the hill. Very crowdy since Saturday + weekend + floral exhibition in Chiang Mai. This will probably be the last Temple during our stay here -> We ensured we got blessed by the monk and got a thread which brings luck.

We had to say goodbye to our excellent guide 'Jum', since the end of our 'northern trip'. No question she couldn't answer, no detail she didn't know and this combined with super flexibility. Make sure to ask for her should you come to Thailand one day.

And yes Bob, the 'thing' behind me on the picture yesterday is a Thai dog. I'll have to think about the award for this ;-)

Back to Chiang Mai

After a good night of sleep we took some more time for breakfast and relaxed during 30min-1hour near the pool. Oh yes, I didn't tell you yet how nice the view from our room was.

After lunch we left for Chiang Mai where we had a standard 'commercial tour' -> Visit of a silk factory, a gem company, a lackery (if this is the right word ?) and a silver factory -> and we left with less weight in the wallet...
Sorry, no picture of the gems store (no pictures allowed, but we saw great fish ;-)

We all were surprised by the location where we had dinner and watched the Thai dances - semi open air restaurant and dancers in the middle of the people. Marvellous location and show.

No, no, we didn't go by Riksha

Let's hope the wishes we made when letting fly a 'lampion' (thai balloon) will come true.

To make my blog a little more interactive, guess what's behind me on this picture ? Answer will follow soon ...

It becomes a habit to end the day at the night market and now in the internet cafe at 0h13.

Tomorrow we start the day with a visit to elephant and monkey school/farm (8h30).

Bye bye Beautiful Mae Hong Son

Promises are to be kept, so here is a picture of the Chinese refugee camp and the waterfall in the middle of the jungle (though not that spectacular since not that much water this period of the year)

After our trip yesterday we ate (again excellent Thai food) in a very local 'restaurant'. We were not hungry so only ate 5 plates for the 4 of us (Michele didn't join, since did not feel that well - maybe due to 'too much food' ;-)). Luckily she was feeling better when we returned to the hotel - after a walk on the night market - with the last shuttle, so she could join for a cocktail at the bar (only 18 degrees at 23h00, so we needed our sweater ;-).

Beautiful Mae Hong Son

Yesterday we arrived at Mae Hong Son - again very different; much more nature.





No internet at the hotel and last shuttle back to the hotel was at 22h, so not possible to put something here yesterday (sorry for the addicts ;-)


After lunch and meeting our new guide for the next 2 days (totally different style) we visited the Wat in the center of Mae Hong Son (Birmese style).





To end the tour of the first day we saw a fish cave and just before dark saw some Wat in the hills.

Check-in in the (very nice) hotel and dinner in the village followed by a little walk at the night market.

Today we woke up with a lot of enthusiasm for our drive on the elephants and it certainly was worth it. Once there was a bit more sun, a long tail speedboat trip on the river Pai between Birma and Thailand.

Very unique encounter with the Padong tribe (Long neck Karen). Girls born on a Full Moon Wednesday get a golden collar (now glass/copper) around the neck every 2 years.

And the Long ear Karen

We visited the Chinese refugee camp and saw a nice waterfall, ... these pictures will be for later ...

Further to the North

A trip of about 400 km today (sunny but not really warm).

After breakfast at 7h30 we visited the Sukhothai site (by bike)






And we saw : Wat, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Wat, Buddha, ... Could sound boring, but that is not the case with our lovely guide and the different styles of Buddhas...














We left Sukhothai and drove to Lampang where we enjoyed a 'local' lunch









and we visited a ... Wat ... This time it was one in 'Birma style'














Even a little corner 'for men only'












On our way from Lampang to Lamphun















We stopped at a gaz station where I also bought some new tissues (for the nose this time ;-). Doing this is also a cultural event, because kleenex with Kitty pictures -> very fashion for girls and women overhere.










And what did we visit in Lamphun ? Yes ...




















After check-in in the hotel in Chiang Mai we went for a Japenese dinner and ended at the night market with a banana pancake as a dessert.