Off to the ruins at Si Satchalanai. Slightly less ancient and rickety fixed-gear bicycles. Thai guards on a quiet day deeply amused by a gaggle of brightly-colored white people careening through the checkpoint, waving colored tickets. On one side ofRead more…
Sukothai – old and new
New Sukothai is a throbbing, lively place, crushed up against the Yom (?) river. Our guest house compound is Lotus Village. Teak outhouses, a pond with a fountain, ancient-seeming buildings of dark, dark wood, shining in the evening light, carvedRead more…
BLES (Boone Lott Elephant Sanctuary)
I’m not sure what makes the mountains of Thailand. The way they press suddenly up out of the plains, covered in jungle, mounded, broken but unassailably beautiful. The rice paddies are a kind of green to make Ireland sit upRead more…
FAE – Asian Elephant Hospital
Bumping and jostling on roads as wild and bumpy as an elephant’s hide, we arrived in the heat of morning at the Asian Elephant hospital, captained by the redoubtable Dr. Soraida. Sickly her whole life, she had a sympathy withRead more…
Doi Southep – Chiang Mai Mountain Splendor
A singular long avenue in a city that rambles as maybe inner Los Angeles rambles – in dizzying profusion and seemingly without order. Long lovely zigzag road through the sudden jungle and up, up, up with the van swinging andRead more…
If not in front of Buddha…
I found a Thai guide. Male, of course, and sexy, obviously, and volunteer. And an artist and speaks 3 languages and has a degree and an international portfolio, but is he really hot enough? Injuries are honesty avoided, but foundRead more…
Thailand
Unexpected flight change. Communication so bad Mercury isn’t in retrograde, I’m pretty sure the Winged Messenger going backward in time. SFO Southwest greeters cheerfully announce weather-delayed flights. The miracle of BART. 11-hour layover in Incheon airport in Seoul. The surprisingRead more…