Sunday - a long walk!

Sunday we decided to see if we could find a swimming pool to enjoy. After looking at the tour guides there seemed to be a couple options. So I set off walking and Joy on her bike. The result was I didn't find a pool but I did find a very nice park and walked all the way around the moat of the Old City. It was a pretty long walk, but I now have a much pretty idea of where things are.

Pictures from the Chiang Mai City Park.

 

I stumbled across a festival/parade with lots of people dressed in traditional Thai outfits. 

 

 The temple where the parade/festival ended.

 

 

 

Pictures from walking around the moat.

Doi Poi

Saturday we ventured to the top of the mountain where Doi Suthep is located. It was an interesting adventure.

It was about an hour and a half drive up to the top of the mountain. It was a pretty winding road but the driver was much more cautious than most US drivers are when driving on mountain roads. There are signs to "please honk" every time you go around a turn. Which meant there was a lot of honking. 

 The path on the way up was 2km and mostly paved.

 The summit. It was a little disappointing because there wasn't much of a view and it was very cloudy. Below is the best shot of the view.

 

The last little part of the hike to get to the summit was through some low shrubbery. I wore long pants and my closed toes keens and didn't think much about it. UNTIL....Joy found these lovely little wormy bug things all over her legs. She was not a fan of them especially because she was wearing shorts. Our guide pulled at least 20 of them off the two of us and calming released them onto the plants around us. GROSS!!

 On our way back (driving) he stopped at an over look with the view we had expected from the top of the summit.

  This is over looking one of the traditional villages you can go and visit. Not sure if we are going to make that trip.

Doi Suthep

For my mother so she knows what I'm doing......

Thursday we went to Doi Suthep. The wat on the Western side of Chiang Mai up in the mountains. According to Buddhist believes, one of Buddha's shoulder bones in berried beneath the wat giving the location extra special meaning for those who practice Buddhism. It takes about 30 minutes to ride up a very winding road to get to the top, so motion sickness can be an issue for people. In general though the drivers seemed to do a much better job than I thought they would.

 About 309 steps to get to the top, according to the guide book.

At the top, outside of the main inner temple area. 

 More of the bells which can be rung for blessings and praise to Buddha.

 View from the back of the complex, looking back down on Chiang Mai. The entire area is surrounded by trees and greenery.

The inner area where most of the praying and meditating is done. Very elaborate! 

We went as our first official visit for our project, so a lot of the pictures I took are of the ramps and bathrooms. It was surprisingly accessible compared to the many other places I have been so far in Thailand. Friday we spent working on finalizing the plans for our final project.

We have also started to get a taste of the rainy season here. The past three days it has rained, but its much different here than rainy days in the US. Here it gets a little cooler before it rains and you can look up and see the dark clouds heading towards you. So you have a pretty good idea when it is going to rain. It rains REALLY hard for about 30 minutes and then it is done till later in the day or the next day. In Chiang Mai the people just seem to wait for the rain to stop and then go about their lives again. The people that are caught outside in the rain (especially driving their motor bikes) just pull over and put on a poncho and then keep driving. I've even seen some really talented drivers holding umbrellas while driving.

Settling into Chiang Mai

I've officially been in Thailand for a week now, nine more weeks and then of to OZ to see NICOLE!

The past two days have been filled with mostly school work, meetings, and finalizing the plan for our project. Monday we went to Chiang Mai University and met Dr. Piya and some of the other lecturers. In Thailand the use American words for the schooling process but use them differently than we do. For example the Occupational Therapy Department is under the Faculty of Associated Medicine. Where as in the US we use faculty to refer to the professors of a particular department. Everyone was very nice and welcoming! We didn't get to meet many students or all of the lecturers because it is still school holidays. They begin a new school year on June 6th.

I have also officially found a place to live here for the remain two months. It is in an apartment closer to the university and closer into the city. I move into my apartment on June 1st. I am staying in my current location (a guest house) until Saturday and then I will stay with Joy for three nights before I move into my own apartment. Joy and I apartments are in the same building. It has internet, its own bathroom, a balcony with a view of the mountains, a small desk, a king sized bed, over head fan, and the option to use the air conditioner. I'm a little sad to leave the guest house here but happy to be in the same place for two months.

It sprinkled for the first time today. It was nice because it wasn't as hot as it has been. According to some of the professors at CMU, it is usually cooler in rainy season than it is now. So bring on the rain!

Here are some of the pictures I have taken of the mountain so far. Its hard to get a good pictures without all the power lines being in the way.

 

Day 4 & 5 - Chiang Mai

I arrived in Chiang Mai Saturday around lunch time and are starting to get the hang of things. I can see why so many people say Chiang Mai is better than Bangkok. It has less of a city feel and on the north west side there is a great view of the mountains. (I haven't found the perfect place to capture the view yet though.) On the way to the airport I met a women from NY who recommended the guest house I am currently staying (Chabba House - fantastic name! haha) So I made a reservation here and canceled the other place I had made a reservation. So glad I did!!! When I arrived the man who owns it showed me around and even took me in his car and showed me how to get to the university and the best places to eat. He copied the key places I needed to go into Thai for me so I could just give the piece of paper to the taxi driver. I haven't completely decided if I am going to stay here for the rest of the time or not. Joy has found another place where I could stay also and its a little cheaper. (Meaning saving $60 or so). If I go there I will move in on June 1st so I at least have a few more days here.

When I arrived at the Chiang Mai airport there was a decent sized group of girls standing around the meeting place with nice cameras excitingly awaiting someones arrival. I was interested in what was going on so I sat down to see what happened.

They were waiting for this person. They swarmed and took lots of pictures and got autographs. It was very entertaining to watch. I have no idea who the person is but I may try to ask one of the students at CMU to help me with the identification.

After we got settled in yesterday we went apartment hunting. I don't have many pictures from that but here are a few of my current room.

 

My room and a make shift laundry line after doing laundry.

 Got to love the lack of water pressure provided by the shower, but its very clean!

Today I rented a bicycle from the place I am staying so it was a bit faster than trying to walk everywhere and pay for taxis. On the down side, I am not used to biking several miles a day and I got a farmers tan on my arms.  At lunch today we stopped at a salad restaurant that served American style salads. We shared a table with a Thai woman who  went to school in America at Campbel University, 26 years ago!!! Now her and her husband are into business. They manufacture something that is sold at Trader Joes and own a tobacco field in Wilson, NC. Such a small world! 

This afternoon/evening I went to the "Sunday Market" which is also called "Walking Street." They shut down a main road and several side roads for a great street market. Some of the stuff was very touristy but there was a lot of Thai stuff too.

 I couldn't decide if there was a nice thing to see or a scary this. Its good marketing at least.

 Part of the market was inside one of the wats. I couldn't help but think of the story of Jesus and the market in the Temple. 

As I was wandering around some four Thai girls approached me and asked if they could interview me for a project. They are students at Scared Heart University. The girl in the dress next to me on the bench is the one that asked me the questions while another one video tapped. They were very basic questions like How old are you? Where do you live? It was for an English assignment. She kept telling me she was soo nervous. It was kind fun and a nice break.

 Pictures of the one of the gates and walls that surround the Old City or center of town. There is also a moat that is on the other side.