Bangkok and Chiang Mai

Twas a sad day to leave the fantabulous Isle of Tao. Of course it had to be done if I ever wanted to see the rest of Thailand, however, to this day I long for the beautiful waters and sands of the islands. After taking a ferry to Chumpon, I had a long, bumpy bus ride up to busy Bangkok. The only thing I was looking forward to there was to see my friend Leslie, whom I met in Bali. Strangely enough, my friend Tarun from SF was in Bangkok visiting his parents at the same time. Knowing that I wouldn't be spending but a day or two in town, I planned to met Tarun the next day for lunch. Unfortunately, out lunch reunion was foiled because, having absolutely no idea where I was in this crazy city, I wandered around for over an hour in Siam Sq. and never found the meeting place. Turns out, the very spot had been burned only a couple weeks before during the recent rioting. Nevertheless, I had plans to meet with Leslie for drinks later that night, so Tarun joined us. It all worked out and it was quite nice to see two familiar faces. It's been a long time.
Not having a lot of time in Bangkok, I did the normal touristy things like visiting the Royal Palace and of course my Where's Waldo in Siam Square. To me, Bangkok was just an overpopulated, overly polluted city. I think if I had a fair amount of time there, I would have been able to find the good things about this city. One thing I did enjoy was the trip to the floating market. I even though it is very touristy, it was quite interesting and I had some very good food.
After Bangkok, I was very much wanting to head up the western border town of Umpang for some trekking. I was thoroughly disappointed when I couldn't seem to find any way to get there. It's off the farang-beaten path so it was turning out to be way to difficult, incredibly lengthy and quite expensive to get there. But alas, you can get all the way up to Chiang Mai, anytime and virtually free at 250 Baht. Thailand tourism is really hurting because of the recent disputes and they were offering some crazy deals. However, not wanting to take another long bus ride, I hoped a flight instead on Nok Air to Chiang Mai. Yay. I tell you, if flights weren't as expensive, meaning on a backpackers budget, I'd fly between every city. It's fast, painless and much more desirable. So poof, there I was in Chiang Mai and hour later. And what a great city it is. So much to do, in and around the city, I had a fabulous time.
The first few days were about relaxing and seeing a couple things around the city. I really enjoyed the zoo and the beautiful temple at Doi Suthep. One night I met a nice couple, Irish guy and his Thai wife. They have a small farm about 30km outside of the city centre. They were kind enough to invite me out to see the place so the following day I rode out on the motorbike to check out what it might be like to farm in this region. Of course, it's the same to farm most everywhere you go. I loved it because they have a new baby goat, ducks, quail (which they sell their eggs at the local market), oxen, chickens, cat, dog and a couple of huge hogs. Very fun.
I'd signed up for 3 days of trekking. Thought it would be good to finally have some exercise. After all, one can't pretend that all of the delicious meals with no exercise leads to keeping trim. I am still waiting to achieve my 'Asia weight'.........still waiting......really. I'd heard how touristy these trekking tours could be, but since my dreams of doing it in Umpang were long gone, I'd have to settle for Chiang Mai. In the group were three, 22 year old Chilean guys and two, 19 year old Canadian girls. Wow, if you ever felt like the camp counselor. Overall it was OK. The trekking was enough to get my heart rate above any level it's seen in the past 3 months and the scenery was quite nice at times. Other than that, it wasn't much to write home about.
Back to Chiang Mai, I spent a few more days exploring the town and met another Canadian girl, Erin. She was a blast and we had a fun time. She had just spent a day at the Baan Chang Elephant Park and after hearing all about it, I decided I just had to do it. I must say, it has been one of the best parts of my entire trip thus far. I wish I could describe the feelings I had towards these animals. Their grandeur and regality plus childlike playfulness was over-powering. They are quite loved by their personal mahouts (care takers), and even through the power of the their massive bodies, there is a permeating gentleness as they are fed and bathed. I left at the end of the day unwillingly and watched out the rear window as we drove away. It was awe-inspiring. Truly.
Last but not least in my final city in Thailand, I took a Thai cooking class. Wow. I love food, especially Thai. We picked out 6 dishes to make and began with a visit to the market to buy our ingredients. Surprisingly, Thai food is so quick and easy to make. I think I left that afternoon so full that I could barely walk. I am very much looking forward to trying many new things back home. Yum
Realizing that my visa was soon to expire and that I just couldn't stay in Thailand forever, as much as I would have liked to, I headed thru Chiang Rai then the border town Chiang Kong, where I crossed, in about 5 minutes, over to Laos. Sadly.
Bye bye Thailand, I will miss you terribly.

I have many photos of all the adventures I had my last few weeks here. Currently I don't have the best internet connection, so uploading pics is not possible. If you'd like to see my pics, click on these picasa links to my albums! Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/ThailandBangkokAndAround#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/ChiangMai#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/BaanChangElephantPark#
http://picasaweb.google.com/candimichael/ThaiCookingClass#