A short video of Melissa and my shenanigans kayaking around Ko phi phi
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
All you can eat fish buffet
Fish Spa! This was absolutely ridiculous, it took a good 5 minutes to calm down. The fish tickled sooo much.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai has a moat. Let me repeat that, Chaing Mai has a MOAT! I mean who doesn't enjoy a good moat? Always the icing on the cake, and to top it off there is even a wall around some sections that used to fortify the city. Old city (inside the moat) is more of a tourist area, having a majority of the guesthouses and tour companies, and where we stayed for the first several days. New city, (good job- outside the moat) houses a majority of the locals and most of the local ammenities, large markets, malls, the university, etc.
Now to what we've been up to. After spending 14 hours in the train freezer, we arived in at the Chiang Mai train station. We hired a tuk-tuk to take us to our guest house and settled in before setting off to check out our surroundings. Our guest house was on a soi (a small lane or road usually numbered and organized by sub-district) in the old city, as is typical, the street was wide enough room for a car and one person to pass without sending anyone to the hospital.
Melissa, being quite familiar with the area, led the way to a market just around the corner which quickly became our go-to place for cheap breakfasts. Our guest house had a community rooftop garden/kitchen area where we met fellow travelers and ate some of our meals.
The next few days were a blur of culture, amazing food, huge markets, beautiful temples, and crazy motorbike rides. During one of our many walks around the city, we dropped by the Elephant Nature Park office (where Melissa will be working for ISV) and had a chance to speak with the founder, Lek, who is a very influential person regarding conservation and animal welfare in Southeast Asia. We visited the ancient temple ruins in the center of the city (anything being protected with a wall and moat is worth a visit) and rented a motorbike on the second day to visit Wat Du Suthep, the mountain temple. 
Instead of grocery stores, there are an abundance of markets around the city. The sunday walking street market is a huge market that extends from the city wall to the center of Old City. The Warorot Market is a huge market that that happens everyday and consumes a few square blocks east of Old City. Warorot Market is frequented by locals and is much lesser traveled by tourists which made everything cheaper than the Sunday Market. The lady we had purchased lunch from was very excited to see us (farangs) and gave us dessert for free, free dessert and a moat (Chiang Mai-2 Bangkok-0). Melissa started her training for ISV, who has been very accomidating with free room and board, on Thursday. I visited a few more temples and even did an aptly named monk chat- I can see the TVAsia game show already. A nearby Muay Thai training center sparked my interest and will probably be my accomidations for two or so weeks in June during Melissa's projects at the Elephant Nature Park.
Chiang Mai has been a great city with awesome things to do and see. I mean- it has a moat!
Now to what we've been up to. After spending 14 hours in the train freezer, we arived in at the Chiang Mai train station. We hired a tuk-tuk to take us to our guest house and settled in before setting off to check out our surroundings. Our guest house was on a soi (a small lane or road usually numbered and organized by sub-district) in the old city, as is typical, the street was wide enough room for a car and one person to pass without sending anyone to the hospital.
Melissa, being quite familiar with the area, led the way to a market just around the corner which quickly became our go-to place for cheap breakfasts. Our guest house had a community rooftop garden/kitchen area where we met fellow travelers and ate some of our meals.
The next few days were a blur of culture, amazing food, huge markets, beautiful temples, and crazy motorbike rides. During one of our many walks around the city, we dropped by the Elephant Nature Park office (where Melissa will be working for ISV) and had a chance to speak with the founder, Lek, who is a very influential person regarding conservation and animal welfare in Southeast Asia. We visited the ancient temple ruins in the center of the city (anything being protected with a wall and moat is worth a visit) and rented a motorbike on the second day to visit Wat Du Suthep, the mountain temple. 
Instead of grocery stores, there are an abundance of markets around the city. The sunday walking street market is a huge market that extends from the city wall to the center of Old City. The Warorot Market is a huge market that that happens everyday and consumes a few square blocks east of Old City. Warorot Market is frequented by locals and is much lesser traveled by tourists which made everything cheaper than the Sunday Market. The lady we had purchased lunch from was very excited to see us (farangs) and gave us dessert for free, free dessert and a moat (Chiang Mai-2 Bangkok-0). Melissa started her training for ISV, who has been very accomidating with free room and board, on Thursday. I visited a few more temples and even did an aptly named monk chat- I can see the TVAsia game show already. A nearby Muay Thai training center sparked my interest and will probably be my accomidations for two or so weeks in June during Melissa's projects at the Elephant Nature Park. Chiang Mai has been a great city with awesome things to do and see. I mean- it has a moat!
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