Around Chiangrai

This is the nice restaurant next to my guest house. It's got great ambiance and aesthetics and all that...

 It's called "Melt in Your Mouth". They have put up dozens of signs directing cars to it and that's how I find my way home on my bike. Just follow the yellow "Melt" signs.

 I'm going to have my coffee upstairs next time because it's a great view of the river from up there.

                                 A river flows by it and lots of motorized long boats.

            This is the entrance of the restaurant. I kinda went nuts with the picture taking.

 The house next door to where I'm staying in the guest house. I just think it's so cute. But, mostly I love the trees.

 This is the guest house I've been staying at for the past week or so. The yellow sign says: "Ps Guest House". It's not really a guest house anymore but more like a rental.


  

My long-handled orange bike. It has two speeds: slow and slower. I shouldn't complain though because, since I've been using it, my thighs have gotten in much better shape.

                                                 The Kok River in Chiangrai

 A lovely walkway along the river. This time of year, Thais from Bangkok come up north to get out of the heat and enjoy the cooler weather we enjoy in the north of Thailand. New Year's Eve is very crowded out in the restaurants and pubs with all the tourists these days.

                           There are so many varieties of palm trees and I love 'em all!

Changing Countries

https://www.google.co.th/maps/@20.8016104,98.7850768,4.99z?hl=en


The thing about changing countries is that one sees the world in a new perspective. Instead of looking at the map from south of Thailand, I'm looking at it from the northern tip of Thailand, in the tip of the "elephant's ear" right where the border of Myanmar and Laos touch Thailand.

They call that the Golden Triangle. And, of course, charge tourists to go there on a very interesting tour, which I opted out of.

Chiangrai is a very pretty little city with not much going on, but at least the Thais have figured out that we Westerners LOVE our coffee. Coffee shops are proliferous. To me, the old stingy Scrooge that I am, the price of coffee is outlandish. I mean, two cups per day would run me between 75 to 100 bhat.  That's almost $4 Canadian! But, the coffee is very good. There is a nice Thai coffee grown here, too.

They mostly sell cappuccino and espresso coffee when you ask for "real" coffee. The Americano is just espresso watered down, but it comes out very strong. They usually only fill your cup 2/3 full, so I ask for another cup of hot water and top it up myself.

So, looking at the world now, China is just the other side of the border that runs between Laos and Myanmar. Wouldn't it be nice if there were no borders? Then, for example, Canadians wouldn't need to pay the highest visa price in Laos. It's $42 U.S. for a Canadian to buy a visa to Laos! That's like three nights in a hotel with your own private toilet.

Is my Scrooge-ness showing again? I guess the visa would be worth it if they gave you a nice long time but I think you only get 30 days.

 This gentle giant is one of the beautiful glories near my studio. We're out in the "real Thailand" here, surrounded in that stuff we remember as nature. Lots of friendly people who actually say, "Hi,".

This is a shot of a granddaddy tree along the road. It's hosting all kinds of other growth like a garden in the sky.

 What the heck is all this shtuff, anyway?

 I wonder whether these humongous trees have a cooling effect on the temperature? There are lots of deciduous trees in this area. 

The view from off my balcony.

It's a nice place to visit but not easy to sleep here! A cacophony of noise erupts every night right around 1:30 am. The barking lizards seem to be the loudest, joined immediately by the roosters who imitate the lizards and the doves. Then there's the cats who sound like babies being tortured. Barking dogs are sort of just background noise. Those lizards get so loud, I have to shout at them to shut up out of my window. They stop when I turn the light on in the kitchen.

 Another view from my balcony...

The bed area of the studio with chair and wardrobe. Note the tiled walls. Give it a cold castle effect.

 TV with kitchen area and window at the back and washroom to the right of that. Note air con above. It's brand new but the weather is so cool I haven't turned it on in the week I've been here because it wasn't needed. In fact, I needed another blanket. B-r-r-r!

On the Road in Malaysia

 I took the bus from Seremban to Hadyai, shooting pictures out of the window along the way. Unfortunatly, the memory card in my camera malfunctioned and I have temporarily lost most of the pics.

Although they are oil palms farmed for their oil, they do look pretty in the rainy season with their leaves shining in the sun.         

                         Did you ever just want to take pictures of clouds?

Upon reaching the Thai border, I was told directly by the bus driver that I had exactly 20 minutes and no more and that if I didn't get back to the bus, he would leave without me. WHAT?

It was sort of funny and sort of not. I'd never had a bus driver say THAT before. So, I knew there was a temptation to start getting a little stressed out when the person in front of me started taking a lot longer than usual. Everyone else just breezed in and out. Not this person in front of me.

I was getting a little tiny, itsy bit stressed, but not really, when it was my turn. The Immigrations officer stopped to read my passport. They had noted that I was entering Malaysia for only ONE WEEK and then required to report to Immigrations in Kuala Lumpur.

"I was supposed to get a teaching job in K.L.," I told the officer, "But they couldn't get a work permit for me because I'm... too old." I tried to smile or at least to show my teeth. But, it didn't help. He sent me to another room. Ok, not so bad. I explained to them that I was hoping to get a position in Vietnam. (Though nothing was definite.) THEY wrote on my passport:

"En route to Vietnam via Thailand."

But, to my joy, they also gave me a whole month in Thailand. I could get back to my bus in the nick of time. Maybe that bus driver saw my little black border cloud over my head. Or maybe I have it written on my forehead: "Border Crossing Loser" or something. But, I got to Hadyai.

Hadyai was when my first cold set in as a result of the freezing air-con bus.

I spent one night at my usual guest house (The Cathay Guest House) in my usual room. Then, decided to head north the following morning.

Bike for Dad in Bangkok

I got to Bangkok in time to see the "Bike for Dad" bike ride that took place downtown for the King of Thailand who is presently in hospital. The King is 88 years old. The Thais dearly love him and rightfully so. He has been an enormous help and strength to his people, a real king with real apathy for his kingdom. He is such a good example of a leader.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX took the throne on June 9,1946. He is the world's longest reigning monarch.