The calm of Chiang Mai

Hello friends and family!

It's been a little bit since my last update, for that I am sorry.  My memory is already a little bit blurry with details from Chaing Mai but I will try to get it all in.

More then anything, Chiang Mai was a breath of fresh air and relaxing sigh of relief from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.  The town is much smaller and much easier to navigate.  Loads of artist selling random pieces of jewlery and clothing, a wide verity of food both Thai and international, and a very chilled out atmosphere.  Hawkers are fewer and more respecting and the entire city just seemed to have More character.  It also helped that we were recommended a fantastic guest house to stay in for unbelievably cheap (6 dollars for a private BIG twin bed room) with a wonderfully nice family of Thai ladies.

There was a much broader variety of activities to get into in this town.  There were some key temples that we saw.  Doi Suthep which is atop the mountain directly behind the city was a big highlight.  We happened to be up there on a Thai Buddhist holiday  totally by accident.  On this day Every Buddhist takes homage at a temple so you can imagine the place was packed.  It was very interesting to see so many people there truly using the temple and not just sightseers checking it out.  The smell of incense was overwhelming and there was a constant cacophony of ringing bells and gongs mixed in with chanting and music.

Another notable place we checked out was the center of Chiang Mai city called ____.  This was probably my favorite Buddhist sight to date.  everything was so clean and pristine.  The main temple at the from of the compound gave way to a great courtyard.  At the center was an old temple from the 6th century on it's way to crumbling but still holding four beautiful shimmering gold Buddha statues.  I went back to this sight four times while I was in Chiang Mai, something about it was absolutely captivating.

The second part of Chiang Mai was more physical activities.  Downhill mountain biking, Hiking and white water rafting.  Finally an opportunity to really get my heart pumping.  The mountain biking proved to be the hardest and also most memorable experience of the stay.  The company we rented bikes from had listed this path as "easy" but it was far from it.  extremely steep inclines and declines mixed with crumbling cement path, overhanging brush and a supper slick red mud made for an exhilarating experience.  I hit the ground three times, two of which were full face plants and left with a huge smile on my face.

I left Chiang Mai feeling wonderfully refreshed and recharged.  Ready for this massive journey to truly play out now and ready for the change that will come.  I'll have a Hanoi report up soon!

Bangkok -- The BIG City

Hey Everyone, things are a little slower on this blog then I had hoped but I am finally getting around to getting this post up.  I'll try to update in a more timely manner in the future.  I love and miss you all deeply.

Bangkok

Bangkok is a seriously nuts city full of all the aspects of a huge mega city.  Packed streets at almost any hour, tons of bustle and movement, entertainment, bars, new sights and smells, beauty and ugliness.  Yet somehow it seemed void of the hidden "charm" that other mega cities, like New York or Buenos Aires have..... or maybe I just didn't find it in my 8 days there.

First, there are people EVERYWHERE.  People moving, working, waiting, scamming, selling, buying everywhere.  There didn't really seem to be any kind of organization to activities in the layout of the city.  Anywhere there were people was open game for any and every kind of interaction.  There were naturally large street market areas where people congregated in a more organized fashion but it seemed that anywhere there was more then 10 people at any given time there was also 5 people with food carts, 8 tuk tuk taxi drivers, 3 people selling Buddha medallions and a few more people selling lotto tickets and random junk.  Everywhere you went in the city this seemed to be the case, business streets downtown to crappy auto areas out on the outskirts.  I don'w know how it is all supported.  My favorite market that we went to was the orchid and general plant market that was located beside one of the many canals in the city.  Tent after tent of plants exploding out of their pots.  Tables full of twisting and turning vines and leafs that all seemed like alean life forms to me more then familiar flowers.  It seemed harder to keep these plants in a manageable state then to actually grow them.  It was fantastic.

The largest part of the Bangkok experience was definitely seeing the massive temples and palaces of the Ratkashhan district.  This was my first experience seeing Buddhist temples of this size.  They have a extreme intricacy that I dod not really expect to be honest.  Glass and jewel mosaic and inlet everywhere and gold leafing covering every surface it seemed.  I personally took the most inspiration from the all the massive stupahs that seem to spring up from the ground like a drawing from my sketch book come to life.  In one busy day we walked to Wat Pho, Wat Arun and the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha all of which are virtually next door to each other.  It reminded me of Istanbul in that respect, standing in a great courtyard and getting an amazing 360 degree view of ancient, immaculate important historical culture.  Like Washington D.C. i suppose only far more visually stimulating.  There is just something calming and comforting about being surrounded by Buddha everywhere.  I far prefer Buddhist temples to Catholic churches.

What I enjoyed most though was my introduction into the explosion of new plant life that I think will ultimately come to define this entire trip.  The best time I spent in this city was an afternoon in Lumpini park.  A central park of sorts located in the center of the Crazy downtown area of Bangkok.  The trees, oh my lord, the trees this park had were some of the best tree displays I can ever remember seeing.  Old and mighty and extremely well kept like a Japanese rock garden from the earth.  I couldn't calm down over how perfectly picturesque they all were.  some were grouped together forming wonderful installations and some stood on their own like massive living sculptures.  I can already tell I will be going nuts over trees this entire trip.

I love you all and miss you dearly.  I am in Chiang Mai now and am having a blast.  I'll try to get this update in a more timely manner.

Tuesday brings on Vietnam!

Things are about to change!

Hello family and friends

Well the day is almost upon me.  I leave on this massive trip on Monday morning at 8:30.  Only 4 days left!!!  I can't believe it already here.  It seems like I am recounting a movie or book, not my actual plans for the next 4 months.  It will be amazing.

To bring everyone up to speed, here is the run down on the trip. 

The trip will start with 2 1/2 weeks in Thailand split between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the North of the country.  From there I take a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.  Once we are in Vietnam I have 3 1/2 weeks to make it down to Ho Chi Mihn City.  Not totally sure how this will happen but coastal train seems to be the obvious choice.  Next we are off to the island of Borneo.  There we are climbing Kota Kinabalu, the largest mountain in S.E. Asia at around 13,000 feet.  Borneo has one of the oldest rain forests in the world having only regrown 2 or 3 times EVER.  next we have a relaxing wee and a half in Bali before heading south of the border.  Australia is split between Sydney and Melbourne over 2 1/2 weeks.

Next it's off to New Zealand!!!  That is when everything changes and becomes much more of a "living" abroad trip rather then a "traveling" abroad trip.

This trip is truly going to be an amazing, life changing experience.  I am going to try my hardest to keep this blog up to date and filled with wonderful stories and pictures while i am away.  I hope you can fallow me!


Until next time,
Paulo