The north

First of all, I am FAR away form the riots in Bangkok. They are almost over/ending and pretty much only involve Thai People.

This past weekend, I took a 4 day loop in northern Thailand.

Bus to Chiang Rai

A nice air con bus that took about 4 hours to get to chiang rai. It was a double decker and cost 175 baht each (about $5). I sat next to a thai man that told me all about his two “children” aged 27 and 29. In Thailand, parents stay close to their children through their whole lives even through adulthood. Parents and children will often live in the same house much longer and sometimes for life. Maybe that’s why so many generations live in one house. A violent but good movie starring the thai version of jackie chan was on.

The funniest part was that we got on the bus and drove for about 5 mins until we pulled over on the middle of the road to a random stand. All of a sudden people from the bus company jump on with water and snacks. MUCH more efficient then trying to sort all of this out on the bus on at the bus terminal.

Chiang rai

A lot like Chiang Mai, but smaller about the size of Davis, California. VERY relaxing atmosphere, beautiful market.

Boat ride Favorite part

A five hour long boat ride upriver to Tah Ton. Stunning, right out of movie. I was one of ten people (5 in our group) that was able to ride on this motorized boat 6 inches from the water. I could see water buffalo, fish, the countryside, and scenery. This brought me so close to the land and relaxed me. In some parts we wouldn’t see human life for about an hour then come upon a nameless little village nestled in the middle of some rice paddies. I felt as if I was climbing up a snake because of all the curves in the river.

Chang dao

Super hot and finally got to the caves. We explored the underground caves that we quite open. There were many Buddha’s in the cave. Luckily we had lights to venture off the lighted section further into the caves. An older polish man led us to a underground lake that was crystal clear and magnificent. Reminded me of the moaning caverns in northern California.

Chiang mai

As we returned to Chiang Mai, we could see more and more people celebrating Songkran. Songkran is the celebration of new year in Thailand. Chiang Mai is the center of this whole week long celebration. Basically everyone pours water on everyone else. It comes from pouring holy water to cleanse you for the new year, but it has turned into a city/region wide all out water war. People arm themselves with buckets/ squirt guns, and water cannons. People ride on pick-up trucks and splash the people flooding the streets. It was chaos and so wet all day. No one is safe and everyone is good natured. There are a few stages with people dancing and blasting music. Great fun!

I'm on a boat

Songkran

Caving