I’m in Pai, a small town north of Chiang Mai, close to the Thailand-Burma border. Here’s the view from my room:
I made my way up here on Tuesday (at least I think it was Tuesday — the days have been running together in my head) after three or four days in Chiang Mai. The weather’s really forgiving here; it’s still very warm during the day, but at night you almost need long sleeves.
I’ll be heading back to Chiang Mai and then Bangkok next week; expect more photos and stories then.
I made it to Chiang Mai yesterday. Here’s a pic of me with a buddy. More images and text soon.
I’m leaving on the night train this evening for Chiang Mai, in the northwest of Thailand. Never been up that way before, so I’m excited.
I’ll try to post from there, but can’t promise anything. I’ll likely be in Chiang Mai and surrounding areas for several days or week (though if I really like it, of course, I’ll stay longer).
In the meantime, check out a couple of Bangkok-related Gridskipper posts I’ve made this week — one’s about Saxophone Pub, and the other’s on the Chatuchak Weekend Market.
(And by the way, for those of you who’re into RSS, there’s now a feed available for all of my Gridskipper dispatches.)
A few observations after being in Bangkok for a week (my first lengthy return to the city since 2002):
1. Thai cowboys rule:
I spotted this dude at the Chatuchak Weekend Market yesterday (where, incidentally, there appears to be a thriving market for apparel from small, private universities who most people outside of the American southeast have never heard of; i.e. my alma mater).
2. Elephants are fun to feed:
This precocious pachyderm and his handler came up to the restaurant where I was eating. I paid 20 Baht (about US $.50) to feed him some fruit.
3. Siam Square, the neighborhood where I’m staying, is a satisfying mix of commercial and residential districts with a small tourist-related street (hotels, guest houses, restaurants) set off to the side. The place is buzzing with activity; here’s a shot I took from an elevated Sky Train platform one night:
4. On my previous Bangkok visits, I’d never been to Jim Thompson’s House; it’s well worth a peek. Though photography isn’t allowed inside, I snapped this pic outside the gates, along the banks of one of the city’s many khlongs (canals); for some reason I really like it:
5. The food. My God, where do I start? I haven’t taken many pics of the gustatory sensations I’ve been sampling simply because they seem too myriad to document. I’ve been eating most of my lunches and dinners at street-side food stalls, which are cheaper and tastier than the foreigner-oriented joints, and I can only say this: I am in culinary heaven.
The rest of my pics so far are in my newly-created Thailand photoset.
The NYT’s Matt Gross has a great article in today’s paper about currrent fashions and trends in Bangkok.
R.W. Apple Jr. has a fantastic article in today’s NY Times about a cheap-eats tour of BKK given by an eccentric expat.
It opens thusly:
The guidebooks touted Bed Supperclub, where the hip and beautiful recline while they eat, and the airline magazine featured the Australian Amanda Gale, who has set the town on its ear with her fusion food at Cy’an. But I was looking for something more traditional, so as soon as I had settled into my hotel room, I picked up the phone and called Robert Halliday, an American writer and gourmand who has lived here so long that he finds vacations without Thai food painful.
“Welcome back to Bangkok,” he said. “Prepare to eat like a shark.”
Soon, he and I, a pair of ample fellows, were accordioned into the back of a not-so-ample taxi, en route to Chote Chitr, a modest establishment with only five tables, near the famous temple, Wat Suthat. “You won’t believe the banana-flower salad,” he enthused as we wove through the city’s notorious traffic. “It’s one of the wonders of the world, up there with the late Beethoven quartets.”
If the US wants to get serious about public health, perhaps we should take a page out of Bangkok’s book and start offering free outdoor aerobics classes.
Must be a Southeast Asian thing — I’ve seen it done in Vientiane, Laos:
As I’ve mentioned before, I collect metro cards from around the world. And I received a nice item in the mail yesterday from Miles B. and Susie: a Boston T card. (I’ve ridden on the T a few times but have always forgotten to snag a card for my collection.) Many thanks, you two.
I decided, for your viewing pleasure and for archival purposes related to the future Newley Purnell presidential library’s ephemera exhibit, to document my cards.
Here’s the full gallery with pics of each card, notes on their design and material, and dates of acquisition. (I always thought my collection was huge, but I’ve actually only got seven cards. I really need to beef it up…)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fishermen in northern Thailand have caught the biggest catfish on record — a 646-pound (293-kg) giant the size of a grizzly bear — and eaten it, the WWF and the National Geographic Society said on Wednesday.
The giant catfish, believed to be the largest freshwater fish ever found, was caught along the Mekong River, home to more species of massive fish than any river on Earth.
I love the fact that they ate it. Waste not, want not.
