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Thailand
2006 Everything Else |
Main Travel
Page Main Thailand Page |
 As in many cultures around the world, in Thailand you are expected to remove your shoes before going into a holy place. |
 In Bangkok I stayed at a modern hotel in the middle part of town, near the Sky Train, which you can see out of the window, in the distance. It was a nice place and was very pleasant to come home to at the end of a long day of wandering around the city, especially given the stifling heat and humidity of tropical Bangkok in July. |
 This was at the Jim Thompson Museum in Bangkok. |
 On one of my nights in Bangkok I went to a performance of puppet theater. The puppets are dressed in traditional clothing and several people walk around on stage and move the puppets. There is live Thai classical music as well. I can't remember what the story was, something historical I think, but it was a fun experience. |
 This is the Suan Lom night bazaar. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants packed into a corner of the modern part of the city. It was obviously a hot spot for trendy Thais and young people. |
 This is the place where I stayed in Sukhothai, Thailand—The Lotus Village. They had a few of these traditional Thai-style houses. Notice it is raised up a few feet off the ground. A normal Thai dwelling would consist of several of these houses—one for sleeping, one for a living room, etc. |
 This is the inside of my room at the Lotus Village. The floors were incredibly polished and clean. You can see why they don't wear shoes inside. The Lotus Village was more rustic than the large, modern hotels I stayed at in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, but it was also much more memorable. |
 The inside of my hotel room in Chiang Mai. You can see it looks like pretty much any modern hotel anywhere. After a day of walking around, I would normally go to a store of some kind and buy something to eat. It was wonderful to relax and watch some Thai television and get ready for the next day's adventures. On most days I would then go out for a another hour or so to see what was going on at night. |
 This is the view from my hotel room in Chiang Mai. |
 A morning view from my hotel room in Chiang Mai, looking toward the mountains to the west. The temple of Doi Suthep, which I visited, was up in those hills. You can see pictures from that temple on page two of the Buddhism section. |
 The lobby of my hotel in Chiang Mai. The people are watching some musicians who were playing traditional Thai music. |
 There was flooding in Chiang Mai. The Ping River was close to overflowing into the city. Apparently this has been a problem in Chiang Mai in recent years, so the city was somewhat prepared to deal with the situation. These guys are building a sandbag levee. |
 The Ping River was right up to the edge of its banks. I had wanted to take the train home from Chiang Mai back to Bangkok, but the trains weren't operating because of the flooding, so I had to take the bus. |
 Many of the businesses in Chiang Mai quickly built little walls in front of their businesses out of bricks and concrete. |
 To get into the 7-Eleven you had to step up on the sandbags and over the brick wall. |
 This elephant was on display for tourists near the Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai. Here he is waiting for a handout. |
 Chiang Mai has a pretty nice zoo, the highlight of which is definitely the panda exhibit. |