Hippo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand

Hippo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

This was the most interactive hippo I've ever met - one glimpse of a tourist through those shortsighted eyes and he'd swim over and open wide.

Giant Panda, Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand

Giant Panda, Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

A Panda can't have too many toothpicks.

Doi Suthep Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Temple, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Haven't yet managed to raise my temple excitement level above "mild interest". But this one had some nice engravings.

Night markets, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Night markets, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

More weird and wonderful foodstuffs at the Chiang Mai night markets. Tania is the blurry figure in black...

Hut, near Pai, Thailand

Hut, near Pai, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Pai is a little mountain town a few hours NW of Chiang Mai. Its prosperity owes a certain amount to opium sales to backpackers, apparently, not that we partook. In fact it took me several hours before realising that the farmers' gestures were not a request for a cigarette...

Look of defeat, Boxing Stadium, Chiang Mai

Look of defeat, Boxing Stadium, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Thailand has over 60,000 professional boxers. The look on the face of this one says it all. He is knocked out in the next round.

Junior Thai Boxing Bout, Chiang Mai

Junior Thai Boxing Bout, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The junior lead-up bouts gave us some indication of what was to come. Essentially fighters seem to be permitted to strike their opponent using any part of the body except the head. Blows from the fists and feet seem to be mostly used for softening up - knees and elbows do the real damage. Boxers appear to be very respectful towards each other, with no signs of aggression or trash talking before or after the bout. (Though given that I don't speak Thai, maybe they just do it with a very straight face!)

Monks, Chiang Mai

Monks, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The monks in Chiang Mai engage in "monk chat" sessions 3 times a week to give them a chance to practice their English, and tourists a chance to ask questions.

Our probing and articulate questions included such gems as "if you can't kill any living creature, how do you cope with mosquitos" and "why did you choose that shade of orange for your robe, I much prefer that other monk's outfit". Enlightenment, here we come...

Stray Dog, Chiang Mai

Stray Dog, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Thailand seems to have stray dogs everywhere - Bangkok alone reportedly has over 300,000. The monks look after the strays in this area of Chiang Mai, thus this dog's satisfied look.

Elephant, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

Elephant, Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Each of the villages in the area we were trekking in own at least one elephant each - as well as performing heavy lifting work for rice paddy construction etc, they provide significant tourist income. I can see why - riding an elephant is an experience of a lifetime. The village elephant handlers use voice commands to direct them (sometimes with limited effect - the baby elephant in our group was very curious and took many wrong turns, eventually falling over and dumping poor Susie into the bushes).

Tania finishes day 2 (smiling!)

Tania finishes day 2 (smiling!)
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Tania still smiling after:

• wasp sting and corresponding swelling of hand;


• approx one gazillion mosquito bites;


• leech and corresponding bleeding;


• problems with the plumbing.

And the grand finale was yet to come - a spectacular summersault and fall from bamboo raft to river via rock. What a trooper!

School, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

School, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Felt a little guilty that our party were such a huge exciting distraction for the children of this one-room school but hey, when you're at school anything's a distraction isn't it?

This little piggy

This little piggy
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

So cute; I hope none of his brothers or sisters were in our dinner that night...

Inthanon Area, Northern Thailand

Inthanon Area, Northern Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

...this in fact!

Village head man, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

Village head man, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

If you are going to make a basket, this is the place to do it - the view that the village head has in front of him is quite stunning. Something like...

Trekking, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

Trekking, Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Visiting the villages in this area is like taking a trip back in time. Each village and its rice paddies and fields is cut out of the dense jungle and irrigated with ingenious terracing and minature canals to divert water from nearby rivers. The villages are almost completely self sufficient, growing their own rice & corn, raising buffalo, pigs, chickens etc for food and for sale, and sharing use of the village elephants to do the heavy work. As each family's rice paddy is ready for harvest, the whole village chips in to bring in the rice; if a family has a bad season the village "rice bank" can be borrowed from and repaid the following year.

Filtering the rice, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

Filtering the rice, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Quite amazing what can be done with some nimble shuffling of a bamboo tray. This (admittedly very experienced) woman first pounded the rice with the aid of a foot powered contraption, then deftly sorted it into a variety of different grades ranging from the pig's porridge to our dinner.

Working the field, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand

Working the field, Inthanon area, Northern Thailand
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Tania's nemesis, food market, Chiang Mai

Food market, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

We did a day's cooking course in Chiang Mai, including a bit of a tour of the local markets. Tania found the chilli information particularly useful...

Food market, Chiang Mai

Food market, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Many of the fish at the local markets were much more animated than these, with big baskets of live snake head etc. But dodging the water and shooting through the net didn't work so well, so here's a picture of a whole swag of nameless varieties.

Night markets, Chiang Mai

Night markets, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The Chiang Mai night bazaar is the city's biggest tourist attraction, apparently evolving from ancient trading caravans that used to stop here whilst travelling between China and Burma. Not anything remotely ancient about it now, mind - Tania's been gorging herself on the clothes shopping and we've both been enjoying the atmosphere of the frantic selling and negotiating. Oh and we both bought some Teevas for our trek (fakes I assume given the $7AU price tag) - how about that eh, Miss "i-will-never-be-seen-dead-in-those-awful-sandals" in river sandals! Heh heh!

City wall, Chiang Mai

City wall, Chiang Mai
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Chiang Mai is a lovely contrast to Bangkok - cooler climate, smaller and much more laid back. The old city is bounded by moats and the remnants of the old city wall (pictured), with mist covered Doi Suthep (I think that's the name of the mountain) towering over the city.

Tania exercises her language skills

2005-07-14 15-34-58_0105
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

I've been instructed to upload this photo so that you can all see Tania's travelling haircut. She is actually buying an amazing concoction somewhat like a frappe (Tania is backseat driving this entry - Ec, T used to buy them in Brisbane apparently) but with zillions of mysterious ingredients.
She has been much more adventurous than me with her food purchases, despite a setback the other night caused by mistaking a whole chilli for a carrot...

Banglampoo, Bangkok

Banglampoo, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

A very laid back area (compared to the centre of town anyhow), Banglampoo has become a bit of a backpackers' mecca. It's starting to feel like our local neighbourhood now that we can find our way around/cross the road without major drama/dodge tuk tuk drivers/negotiate a price in the markets/say "hello" and "thank you" in the correct gender.
But we head off to Chiang Mai later today, so farewell to Banglampoo...

River boat, Bangkok

River boat, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

The river is far and away the most peaceful way to travel around Bangkok, as well as being convenient, fast and a great way to sightsee. There are also many canals networking the city - Bangkok used to be somewhat of a Venice of the East (until the forward thinking administration filled in the canals to make roads, of course).

Shrine, Bangkok

Shrine, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Sukhumvit Road in the centre of Bangkok is a study in contrasts - one side of the deafening, choking main road swish hotels and glossy shopping centres; the other a clogged pathway full of filthy stalls, legless beggars and scam artists; the road itself a multi story monster like something out of Blade Runner. This little fenced off shrine looks so peaceful in the photo that it is hard to imagine that it is about 3 meters away from complete mayhem.

Tuk Tuk + Victims, Bangkok

Tuk Tuk, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

We got sucked in to a tuk tuk sightseeing tour - only 20 baht (about 70 cents), but punctuated by a couple of sponsored visits to clothing store and the "TAT government travel agency". A great introduction to Bangkok scammers ("Germany has Hugo Boss; Italy has Versace; France has LaCoste.... Thailand has... THE TOP TEN CLOTHING COMPANY")! But hard to take much offence when it's all done with such good humour and a big smile.

Tuk Tuk, Bangkok

Tuk Tuk, Bangkok
Originally uploaded by JonathanTheMan.

Bangkok drivers are all completely mad - and the most deranged of all are the tuk tuk drivers. "Where you go" is the standard greeting from these smoke belching death traps, and where you go is often not where you want to go as commission ("tea money") is paid to drivers who take their passengers on a detour via overpriced clothing stores, travel agencies etc.

Having said that, a ride on one of these is an experience not to be missed - an amusement park ride, a year's worth of carbon monoxide and a near death experience all rolled into one.