August 17, 2001-Chiang Mai Thailand
(photos- Monk meditating in gift shop of wat and Riverview Lodge-Chain Mai, Thailand)
If this works you will have gotten a bunch of old emails from us. We went to an Internet café today and bought a floppy. We’ll now try to copy and paste the old messages into your next email. Since we didn’t want to install AOL 6 (heard there were a lot of problems with it) we didn’t have access to our address book from Internet cafes. We had to copy and paste our address book from sent mail when we were at an Internet café. We pasted it into Send To and it seems to work. There are at least three Internet cafes per block in this town. In one that we used today we got an hour free net time if we paid for a Thai massage. We were too hot and sweaty to take advantage of it so we forked over the 30 bat/hour (approx. $0.60). Food prices have also plummeted compared to Japan. We had lunch of soup and two main dishes for $4 including bottled water and tip.
I seem to be approaching this email in reverse chronological order, but the thought of money brings me to our $35/night hotel, which David booked on his own. David did a baby naming for a couple before we left. The man is Thai and he said he had an uncle in Chaing Mai who owns a hotel. We called the uncle directtly and he was happy to book a room. We were nervous when we heard the price. On the drive in from the airport yesterday we kept trying to lower our expectations as we passed filthy houses and turned down a dirty alley. At the end of the alley was our hotel. I can’t say it’s even a three star place, but it’s clean and charming. The lobby, lounge, and restaurant are open air. The rooms open to a motel-like walkway in front and each room has a balcony overlooking the polluted river and lovely gardens. The air-conditioned room is a good size and tiled in terra cotta. The bathroom is a half step down. I’ve fallen into it twice. There’s no hot water in the sink, it’s sort of tepid. The shower pressure isn’t great, but then neither was the hotel in Kyoto. The shower has plenty of hot water.
Back to the Beginning
Now to the beginning of yesterday: it was a travel day. We spent it inside planes or airports. We took a van to Osaka Airport (1 ½ hrs). As we approached the airport we could see through the smog that the city is surrounded by mountains. On a hilltop a lone man was doing something akin to tai chi…right in the city. The ocean and seaport was to our right and on the other side of a long bridge was the airport. It’s on a manmade island; quite a dramatic sight (and take off). The architecture is very open with soaring ceilings and huge mobiles hanging overhead. Though classical music is piped in everywhere in Japan, at the airport David noticed that one of the tunes was Suwannee River.
We flew Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and the airline lived up to its reputation. Food was good, service top-notch. We got to watch Shrek. Cute movie. We were surprised when the flight attendant handed us an upgrade for business class on our next flight with no explanation. We left on time and arrived early. Hong Kong’s new airport was unimpressive. It’s huge and somewhat unwieldy. Business class is the way to go! We enjoyed being pampered and especially liked the reclining seats. The food was a little better than economy and tablecloths were a cute touch. All in all I don’t think it’s worth what they charge. For free it’s wonderful.
We approached Bangkok in foul weather. The sky was black and we could tell it would be a rough landing. The pilot thought so too, because he aborted at the last minute. That’s happened to us before and it gives one pause. There were wind shears so he tried again. As we landed we saw another plane abort its landing. Not fun. I noticed that unlike our last trip to Asia the airports were now non-smoking or had smoking rooms. These were tiny prison-like rooms off to the side of the concourse. As we left Bangkok, we realized that taking off in a storm is a lot easier than landing in one.
A Royal Welcome
There have been tragic mudslides in Chiang Mai. This morning’s paper said seventy-one were dead. Our hotel was affected by the flooding. The owner told us he had called us in Akron to tell us the hotel was closed. Luckily, we didn’t get the message and the river was back in its banks by the time we arrived. The swimming pool at the hotel is right by the river and they were busy pumping river water out of it. The owner had to move his collection of cars to higher ground. He has some old Mercedes and a Rolls.
This morning we had a private tour of the grounds of the spectacular winter palace. The queen loves flowers and the roses were bigger than David’s fist. Thai people love their monarchs and see them as guardians of the well being of the Thai people. Modesty is the order of the day for the palace and for the wats/temples. David had to wear jeans and I fortunately brought my beach wrap/sarong.
If this works you will have gotten a bunch of old emails from us. We went to an Internet café today and bought a floppy. We’ll now try to copy and paste the old messages into your next email. Since we didn’t want to install AOL 6 (heard there were a lot of problems with it) we didn’t have access to our address book from Internet cafes. We had to copy and paste our address book from sent mail when we were at an Internet café. We pasted it into Send To and it seems to work. There are at least three Internet cafes per block in this town. In one that we used today we got an hour free net time if we paid for a Thai massage. We were too hot and sweaty to take advantage of it so we forked over the 30 bat/hour (approx. $0.60). Food prices have also plummeted compared to Japan. We had lunch of soup and two main dishes for $4 including bottled water and tip.
I seem to be approaching this email in reverse chronological order, but the thought of money brings me to our $35/night hotel, which David booked on his own. David did a baby naming for a couple before we left. The man is Thai and he said he had an uncle in Chaing Mai who owns a hotel. We called the uncle directtly and he was happy to book a room. We were nervous when we heard the price. On the drive in from the airport yesterday we kept trying to lower our expectations as we passed filthy houses and turned down a dirty alley. At the end of the alley was our hotel. I can’t say it’s even a three star place, but it’s clean and charming. The lobby, lounge, and restaurant are open air. The rooms open to a motel-like walkway in front and each room has a balcony overlooking the polluted river and lovely gardens. The air-conditioned room is a good size and tiled in terra cotta. The bathroom is a half step down. I’ve fallen into it twice. There’s no hot water in the sink, it’s sort of tepid. The shower pressure isn’t great, but then neither was the hotel in Kyoto. The shower has plenty of hot water.
Back to the Beginning
Now to the beginning of yesterday: it was a travel day. We spent it inside planes or airports. We took a van to Osaka Airport (1 ½ hrs). As we approached the airport we could see through the smog that the city is surrounded by mountains. On a hilltop a lone man was doing something akin to tai chi…right in the city. The ocean and seaport was to our right and on the other side of a long bridge was the airport. It’s on a manmade island; quite a dramatic sight (and take off). The architecture is very open with soaring ceilings and huge mobiles hanging overhead. Though classical music is piped in everywhere in Japan, at the airport David noticed that one of the tunes was Suwannee River.
We flew Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and the airline lived up to its reputation. Food was good, service top-notch. We got to watch Shrek. Cute movie. We were surprised when the flight attendant handed us an upgrade for business class on our next flight with no explanation. We left on time and arrived early. Hong Kong’s new airport was unimpressive. It’s huge and somewhat unwieldy. Business class is the way to go! We enjoyed being pampered and especially liked the reclining seats. The food was a little better than economy and tablecloths were a cute touch. All in all I don’t think it’s worth what they charge. For free it’s wonderful.
We approached Bangkok in foul weather. The sky was black and we could tell it would be a rough landing. The pilot thought so too, because he aborted at the last minute. That’s happened to us before and it gives one pause. There were wind shears so he tried again. As we landed we saw another plane abort its landing. Not fun. I noticed that unlike our last trip to Asia the airports were now non-smoking or had smoking rooms. These were tiny prison-like rooms off to the side of the concourse. As we left Bangkok, we realized that taking off in a storm is a lot easier than landing in one.
A Royal Welcome
There have been tragic mudslides in Chiang Mai. This morning’s paper said seventy-one were dead. Our hotel was affected by the flooding. The owner told us he had called us in Akron to tell us the hotel was closed. Luckily, we didn’t get the message and the river was back in its banks by the time we arrived. The swimming pool at the hotel is right by the river and they were busy pumping river water out of it. The owner had to move his collection of cars to higher ground. He has some old Mercedes and a Rolls.
This morning we had a private tour of the grounds of the spectacular winter palace. The queen loves flowers and the roses were bigger than David’s fist. Thai people love their monarchs and see them as guardians of the well being of the Thai people. Modesty is the order of the day for the palace and for the wats/temples. David had to wear jeans and I fortunately brought my beach wrap/sarong.
Thai wats are decorated in elaborate arrays of primary colors and ornate carvings. Ninety per cent of the people are Buddhist. Their fund raising reminded me of our temples and synagogues. There were bells engraved with a donor’s name, a wall with a list of donors, and clay tiles to buy and write your name on so that a poorer wat could get a new roof. Buddhist monks and nuns are celibate, but it doesn’t have to be a lifelong job. Poor families send their boys to become monks so they can be educated. The government pays for school until grade six. Our guide and his wife who is also a guide are sending their sons (ages 4 and 7) to private schools.
Dogs seem to rule around the wats. No, they’re not dinner. They lay in the streets as if they owned them. They’re passive but I am too in this heat.
After our tour, we took a tuk tuk to lunch. A tuk tuk is a motor scooter with a small boxed- in seating area attached to the back. Passengers sit over the area containing the petrol. It's an exercise in faith. That’s when we saw all the Internet cafes. You know the rest.
Toby
Dogs seem to rule around the wats. No, they’re not dinner. They lay in the streets as if they owned them. They’re passive but I am too in this heat.
After our tour, we took a tuk tuk to lunch. A tuk tuk is a motor scooter with a small boxed- in seating area attached to the back. Passengers sit over the area containing the petrol. It's an exercise in faith. That’s when we saw all the Internet cafes. You know the rest.
Toby
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