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!
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