One Month to Departure

La Senyera - the official flag of catalonia.

One month from today we will be en-route to Barcelona! The trip is becoming more "real" as more of our plans fall into place. We still need to secure one lodging location and a few train tickets, and finalize some of our sight-seeing plans around Barcelona and Madrid.

At the same time we face some uncertainty and concern as Barcelona has encountered some difficult times and tragedy in recent week. Workers at Barcelona's el Prat airport dissatisfied with wages and working conditions have staged strikes which have resulted in severe delays and chaos. A growing anti-tourism movement across Europe has led to marches, protests, and even an attack on a tourist bus in Barcelona.

And then there was last Thursday. A terrorist drove a van down Las Ramblas, the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the heart of Barcelona's old city killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 more. He killed a 14th person during his escape. Nine hours later, a similar attack occurred in nearby Cambrils, killing one woman and injuring six other people. All of this was part of a larger plot in which plans were apparently underway to deploy bombs in the area, which was disrupted by a premature explosion in the building where the bombs were being manufactured. Eight members of the terrorist cell have been killed as a result of the explosion and police action.

All of this is enough to give one pause, and to cause concern among friends and family members. It will certainly lead us to pay close attention to State Department travel guidelines, to be more aware of our surroundings, and to approach our trip in a more somber, less celebratory, and perhaps less relaxed mood. What it will not do is prevent us from living our lives; experiencing new cultures; exploring food, wine, and architecture; visiting friends; celebrating festivals; cheering on football; enjoying the beach; and fulfilling a years-long dream of traveling to Spain. Calling off such a trip would giving in to terror.

Last week's attack brought back a specific memory for me. I really hadn't thought about it at all in the context of our upcoming trip, but I was supposed to have traveled to Spain in high school. A group trip was being planned, I suppose through our Spanish classes, but it was actually called off out of concern about terrorism. I don't remember the specific incident that resulted in the trip's cancellation, but I imagine it was either the terrorist attack in Madrid in 1985 or 1986. I was extremely disappointed at the time, and I remember thinking it was the wrong decision even though now I can't say I blame the adults for making it. Now, as an adult, I am free to make my own choices about travel, and we will go. We are sober and cautious, but we are not afraid.

Impromptu Las Ramlas Memorial (REUTERS/Susana Vera)

We're Going to Spain! (And France!)

Ten years ago this week, Barry and I traveled to Maine to help our good friend Dean and his new husband Antonio celebrate their marriage. Dean and Antonio met on vacation and found themselves in a long-distance relationship, as Dean lived in the Boston area and Antonio lived in Spain. But back in those days, same-gender marriage was legal in Spain and not in the U.S., so off went Dean to live with Antonio in his home town of Torrijos. Ever since then we've wanted to visit the couple, and Spain has been very high on our "to do" list. Actually, Spain has been very high on my list ever since I saw the 1999 film "All About My Mother" which is largely set in Barcelona. Throw in the Modernista architecture, Spain's national football team winning the 2010 World Cup, and Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona, and Spain rises to the top of the list!

We surely would have visited earlier if it weren't for that third trip to South Africa we took, almost unexpectedly. Following that, Spain once again became our "next up" travel destination. Then one day last November, I saw a Facebook post from a former student: Airlines were having a sale on travel to Spain and other European countries, for certain dates in 2017. A few clicks later, we had purchased flights to Barcelona for less than it costs to fly to Arizona.

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - still under construction.

We waited for la Liga to announce the soccer schedule before making any specific plans for the trip. Once tickets went on sale July 22 we could finally purchase our FC Barcelona tickets and our planning commenced. On September 22, Barry, his mother, and I will head off to Europe for a two week vacation. We will land in Barcelona during their big festival La Merce. After two nights there, we're taking the high-speed train to Perpignan, France - just because we can. Then we will take the train to Toledo, Spain to connect with Dean and Antonio, and to stay with them and their family during the big annual festival in Torrijos, la Sementera. We will head back to Barcelona in time for the FC Barcelona match vs. Las Palmas in Camp Nuo, will see more of the sites there (including Montserrat and Flamenco!), and spend some time in Sitges before returning home.

We're really looking forward to the time off and the opportunity to travel together again. Stay tuned!

Montserrat Monastery outside Barcelona.

Thailand Trip Closure

At the closing dinner.

 I honestly never imagined it would take me nearly three months to sit down and write my final blog post about the Thailand trip. With that kind of delay, it doesn't really serve much of a journal of my thoughts, feelings, and observations during the trip. Unfortunately, I lost steam when Blogger ate half of my last post on the bus back from Chicago, and considering I still suffered from a bronchial infection when I got home I didn't have the energy or motivation to blog. Then life happened, with three trips to Iowa, a trip to California, surgery, drum corps... it took me two months just to download, organize, sort, and post my photos.

So, where were we? Wednesday was our last day in Thailand. After the doctor's visit, the medications, and a decent night of rest, I felt marginally better and decided to head out with the class for our final business visits. After a morning debrief at the hotel, we went to PwC for a nice visit with a Kelley alumnus who is a partner and several other PwC staffers, one of whom was in Singapore but chimed in remotely via video conference. If I'm remembering correctly we learned something about forensic accounting. Although I was not quite 100% that day and I can't recall the specifics now, I do know it was a good visit and I was impressed by the engagement and contribution of so many employees.

Following PwC, we visited FinTech - a financial product venture capital firm owned by a Thai bank. This was an interesting visit. The office itself was pretty trendy and designed to inspire creativity, so it was fun and interesting to see. Our host was quite the unique character. He essentially shared his life story and how he ended up in his third(?) career running this place. He laid bare all of his past trials and failures, moves, and career choices - from dropping out of college (failing?) to opening all of the Apple Stores in China. Basically, it was a story of someone discovering himself, his strengths, and his motivations. He learned something at every step along the way, and he didn't stay in jobs he didn't love. And you never can predict where you will end up.

Lunch came after the FinTech visit. Brenda took a student back to the hotel, I think, and Angie went to lunch with Peter leaving me to walk with the Students, Dom, and O to a nearby second-floor restaurant for a buffet lunch. I didn't have a lot of energy or a huge appetite, so I sat quietly with Dom and O and ate little bites of the available dishes. I don't remember being super impressed, although I'm sure it was fine and I know it was better (for me) than the lunch at the airport two days earlier. I think I was most disappointed in the drink selection. In the end, I reluctantly drank whatever they offered figuring I wouldn't get much sicker at this point.

We had free time after lunch. Some people shopped and some got massages, but I went back to my room to rest and pack. I actually don't think I got to the packing at that point, but I appreciated the rest. I had to meet Angie and Brenda in the lobby at some point to work out - once and for all - the tipping situation. After a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication beginning prior to the trip and continuing throughout, we finally figured out the most appropriate tipping protocol for our guides and made arrangements to properly compensate them for the amazing service they provided during our time in Bangkok.

Closing feast at Ban Khun Mae.

That evening we headed out for our closing dinner, walking to nearby Ban Khun Mae Restaurant. We were in for a treat - and it's a good thing I had an appetite. This place brought out copious amounts of food, served family style, and we could barely begin one dish before the next couple of dishes were delivered. We had giant prawns; we had soup in flaming cauldrons; we had green mango salad; we had fish... It bordered on being wasteful, but everything was delicious and we certainly didn't go hungry. Angie shared some reflections on the trip, and we presented our gift to Peter. The students gave each of us thank-you gifts, as well. I received a small packet of what I think are dried scorpions... I'm not really sure. All of the writing on the package is in Thai, and it sits unopened on my nightstand. The more meaningful gift was a personalized leather passport cover which they had made in one of the markets. It was perfect; I love it.

Walking back to Pathumwan Princess Hotel.

I took a while for me to sort out the bill and get an acceptable receipt for the drinks, but I finally got that sorted out and walked back to the hotel with the leadership team. I spent the rest of the night packing before getting a few hours of sleep, but of course some of our students went out to Khaosan Road for one last night on the town.

We left quite early for the airport, with some boxed breakfasts from the hotel. I bought a few gifts at the airport, since I had missed out on a couple of opportunities to shop during the trip. The travel was, thankfully, uneventful except for the Chinese tourists who kept trying to cut us off at the airports and the lost bus driver on the way to Zionsville. The first flight, to Hong Kong, was the nicest plane I've ever been on. Thankfully, while I didn't feel great, I was well enough to travel without too much discomfort. I slept some and watched some movies. I took Friday off of work and went to the doctor in Bloomington. The two-hour wait was miserable and I actually fell asleep in the waiting room. I finally saw someone who prescribed a different antibiotic, and after two more days of rest I was ready to head back to work.

Churning of the Milk Sea at the Bangkok airport.

I certainly would have enjoyed the trip a lot more if I had been healthy. But in these past few months I've had the opportunity to tell many friends, family members, and colleagues about the trip. Each time, I find myself telling them what a great trip it was: fun, responsible, curious, and engaged students; excellent business visits; great guides; beautiful scenery; elephants; time spent with friends; delicious food; good colleagues; no travel issues. In spite of my illness and the experiences I had to skip, it really was one of the better Kelley trips I've been on. I could see myself going back to Thailand.

Don't forget to check out my photo gallery, also linked in the right column!

Back in Bangkok

Still on the bus, approaching Lebanon. Let's see if I can wrap up this blog before getting home. (*It's not going to happen... Blogger just erased at least 20 minutes of writing... toward the end of this post.) Oh shit - I65 traffic jam. We just pulled off the interstate to take back roads.

Monday morning we again had breakfast at the hotel. I was not super hungry, so I had some fruit, yogurt, and yummy granola. I was once again disappointed in the range and availability of hot foods. But it was probably just as well considering my meager appetite.

We headed to the airport and checked in, where I got my coffee and blogged while we waited to board. Just after wrapping up my post for the day, and only about 10 minutes before boarding, a student noticed her camera was missing. I went with her back through security to the airport entrance security checkpoint. We were about to give up there when a woman told us they had a camera at the information desk. That was the missing camera! But it took the student a minute to convince the employees it was hers.

Of course we made it back to board on time. The flight is only about an hour and 20 minutes, but I slept as much as I could. In Bangkok we walked to a hotel restaurant adjacent to the airport. It was warm and crowded, but we sat near an air conditioner which I appreciated. I still wasn't hungry, and I didn't find the spread at all appealing although Brenda and Angie seemed to enjoy the food. I had some good pumpkin soup, fried rice, half a boiled egg, and the two last bites of teriyaki chicken. They didn't seem to offer any entrees with no sauces. The only drinks were fountain drinks or water from pitchers, so I went without.

After lunch we took a bus to the Board of Investments and were back into the swing of the business-y stuff. There we met the #2 person, a woman who received her MBA from the Kelley School (Secretary General Duangjai Asawachintachit). She told us some interesting stuff about the ease of doing Business in Thailand, a new manufacturing corridor, Thailand 4.0, and other stuff that tied in quite nicely with what the students had learned in class. During the presentation I was fidgety, then cold, and a little unfocused. They provided some coffee which wasn't working for me (wish I could have tried the Thai iced tea, but the beverage service seemed... random). I could barely bring myself taste the pork-filled bun they gave us. I went to the restroom and realized I actually had the chills so bad I couldn't type on my phone. I knew I had to abandon ship and go to the hotel.

The guides convinced me to ride the bus to the next visit and take an Uber to the hotel from there, since it would be closer. I watched the map on my phone as we approached the city center, passed near the hotel, and kept going in a big circular path to the east and ultimately far south of the hotel. And of courses we had to go past the place and cross over to the other side of the road and backtrack before we finally arrived. The students went inside to learn about copyright law and the counterfeit goods industry while I waited for my Uber. Finally he arrived, and a mere half an hour or so later I was back. I went to the mall and bought a higher strength Tylenol and a thermometer before getting some harsh Thai Whisky and heading to my room to sleep for about 12 hours.

We are seriously driving around on country roads and through subdivisions somewhere near Zionsville... and he just turned the wrong way. Now literally driving north, away from the student drop-off point.

Tuesday morning I awoke feeling better, but not 100%. I had fruit and yogurt for breakfast, which I ate by myself. We had a nice briefing meeting and we headed out for a day of cultural visits. We took a bus to the area of the Grand Royal Palace where we had to walk to the security checkpoint. We showed our passports to get in to the area, then walked a couple hundred yards to the Palace entrance. It was crowded, but apparently with fewer people than during the high season. While it had been raining when we left, it was now dry but overcast and humid. The place covers something like 60 acres, and of course we could only see part of it. We did a group photo first then proceeded to the temple area where we learned about the various structures there such as the gold stupa, the assembly hall, and the building where the sacred texts are stored. Next to all of that was a large building holding the tiny and most sacred Jade Buddha. No photos allowed inside, and of course we had to remove our shoes to go in. Only the Thai people could go closer to worship the Buddha.

[Starting here is where all of the brilliant stuff I wrote before disappeared]

Everything was very detailed and ornate; things that were not gilded were covered in painted tiles or mirrored mosaic tiles. We were given about 15 minutes to walk around and take pictures. There were tourists of every nationality taking pictures of themselves - selfie sticks or not - or of groups, or of us. If was all a bit overwhelming and claustrophobic. I paused to take my temperature, which was going up, and realized I couldn't make it through the day. (I later discovered I was taking the wrong dosage of Tylenol.) We headed away from the temple area and toward the palace itself, but first we had to stop to learn about pollution and the ongoing restoration of the temple buildings. Finally we got to the palaces, where the King no longer lives, and the guides told us all about their uses, architecture, and history before we at last we headed toward the "Happy Rooms" (restrooms), at which post I told Angie and the guides I couldn't continue.

To get out, we had to walk out the same entrance but the streets were restricted there so we had to walk a couple hundred yards around to the back side of the palace before I could summon an Uber. Thank God the driver was right there,  but the ride back was excruciatingly long due to the stop-and-go traffic. I took my temperature during the ride, and it was now up to 102.4. I knew I had to see a doctor.

At the hotel, I asked the nice Duty Manager Wannisa(?) to call a doctor. I was resting in my room with a headache when he arrived with his nurse. He looked me over and asked some questions and knew right away he had to give me a shot to bring my fever down. I also got a shot of antibiotic, an electrolyte drink, an antihistamine described as a ”Face Bomb," antibiotics for later, and some other tablet. He also gave me a large bill, but it was totally worth it.

Within a couple hours, while everyone else was seeing the giant reclining Buddha, hearing personal stories from the guides, visiting the Marble Hall, seeing the Queen's high-security exhibit, and enjoying free time at Khao San Rd (as seen in Hangover 2!), my temperature had returned to normal and I was feeling much better. The hotel sent flowers for me, and Wannisa called once or twice to ask if there was anything else she could do for me.

I blogged, ordered room service, and even sat outside for a while on the pool level (after the heavy shower that popped up) before going to bed around 10:00.

We are finally south of Martinsville and getting closer to home. I think I recreated most of my lost writing and added on the last two or three sentences describing the day, but that puts me out of time and energy to write about the last day and the trip home, although there's not a lot to say about the travel. I will simply have to do another post to wrap up Thailand after I get home -  which kind of defies the name of the blog. I might also tweak these previous entries with more links and photos at some point.

You may be interested to know that the bus driver is still playing annoying R&B...

I can't wait to see Barry and our dogs soon!

Elephants!

Sunday morning after an adequate breakfast at the hotel we got on the bus and rode about an hour or an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai, past a number of military bases, golf courses, new developments, and smaller communities to the scenic countryside. Eventually we stopped at a remote and quite modest mountain village where we got off the bus and walked through the the streets and up the hill to the Thai Elephant Home.

After changing into attractive blue mahout uniforms and shoving our belongings into small lockers, we listened to a basic briefing about the place, Asian elephants, what we were about to experience, and how to ride an elephant. Before long we were off to interact with the magnificent beasts. We took a group photo and fed the animals bananas and sugar cane before practicing mounting the animals and taking a quick practice ride around the lot.

Once we had our initial test run, we were off for the full day's excursion. I started out on my own at first on Wan (well, I assume she wasn't "Juan") a twelve-year-old ele with a consistent Grey color and sparse, spiny, black hair. We took off down a path that eventually crossed the road and led us to the river. Once there, Brenda joined me on Wan and we crossed the fast-moving river which was very brown from the rain the night before.

On the other side of the river, I wasn't sure what to expect. Based on the briefing, I thought we would soon be going back to the Thai Elephant Home for lunch. Boy, was I wrong. Once we crossed we began an immediate and pretty steep ascent up the hill. It was a big hill. We kept going, and eventually I figured it out: we were climbing a mountain. As long as we kept Wan on the path and away from the delicious bamboo and trees along the way, we continued to climb higher and higher until we began to see the surrounding mountains through the thinning trees and great views of the now-distant village below. About when I thought it would never end, we reached a hillside structure and watering hole where we stopped for lunch.

The lunch itself was a quite delicious Pad Thai wrapped for us individually in banana leaves along with some sticky rice also packaged in banana leaves. I was barely hungry enough to eat all of it, as delicious as it was. We also had some fresh, green, little oranges. As we ate, we watched the elephants come about two at a time to bathe themselves in the mud. When we were done eating, we all got an elephant kiss and the students got in the mud to play with a couple of the creatures, applying mud to their skins to help them stay cool and to keep flies from bothering them.

Following that messy event, it was time to descend the mountain. By this time I was feeling a little off, and I thought maybe it had to do with the intense heat. I got a Sprite, thinking the sugar would help, and when offered a choice I concluded it would be better to ride back down rather than walk (especially since I was wearing flip-flops). This time I had Wan to myself. I thought we would never reach the bottom of that mountain. I was second in line, and it was impossible to turn around to see the group behind me. By the time we finally got to the bottom of the mountain I definitely knew that I wasn't feeling very well and I was ready to go back. However, the at the bottom of the mountain was the river, which meant we all got to play in the river with the elephants, rinsing them and splashing around. It was pretty cool, and I heard students remark that it was the best day of their lives.

Once we had our fill of fun and photo opps, it was back on to the elephants for the trip back to the Thai Elephant Home. I thought it would be a short ride back up the same path we came down, but of course it was not. We took the long way - first past a handful of very nice riverside homes, then past what seemed like a center of operation for the village with lots of trucks and oxcarts parked around, past a number of mostly vacant tree-level stands (many of which were in disrepair) where people sell bananas and sugar cane to passing tourists, and finally onto a dirt road leading away from the Thai Elephant Home. It was a chance for one last photo before we rode the elephants through the streets past many of the local homes, up the hill, past the school to the Home.

We dismounted our rides and said goodbye, then went up to get our things, shower, and change. We ate watermelon while everyone cleaned up and we waited for the staff to finish a slide show of our day. They captured some great photos of us, which we were able to see on site and which were actually posted on Facebook before we left! A fun day, but I was feeling pretty crappy by the end of it. Oh - and we all used muscles we didn't even realize we had to maintain balance on top of elephants for more than two hours of riding. We walked down the hill to the bus and rode through the pretty tropical mountain scenery back to the city.

We had free time when we got back. Brenda and Angie disappeared off the bus before I knew it and I proceeded to make a plan to meet my acquaintance Paige for dinner. I know Paige through mutual drum corps connections -  she marched in the Colts and Colts Cadets for several years before spending a couple of years on the tour admin staff. Oddly enough, our timing never really overlapped so we probably hadn't met in person before.

Paige and I made plans to go for the Northern Thai noodle curry dish, Khao Soi. She came to meet me at the hotel, where we said "Hello" to Angie and Brenda in the lobby bar where our students were quite loudly enjoying Happy Hour. She cringed a bit when we told her about the elephants , and recommended a sanctuary Angie might take the class to in the future. We took an Uber to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the Chinese market called "The Best! Local Thai Restaurant" because, why wouldn't we? We had some delicious Khao Soi, mediocre Thai beer, and some good conversation about Thailand, her teaching work, our class, and of course, drum corps. Before leaving the area she went with me to a pharmacy to get some Tylenol and cough medicine. I asked about taking a Tuk-tuk back to the hotel, considering Paige seemed to be an advocate for them prior to the trip, but she said it would cost way more than and Uber - so we took an Uber back to the hotel and she went home to sleep before her first day of teaching in a new school the next day, which was the first day of the school year.

Although I wasn't feeling great, I was feeling better after dinner and I was equipped with Tylenol so I didn't want to squander my last, and only free night in Chiang Mai. One thing the city is known for is the Sunday Night Market featuring a lot of locally made crafts. I walked to the market from the hotel - about a 15-minute stroll. I came upon the east end of the market where it meets a massive brick gate that was part of the original city wall. Beyond the gate, the market extended for blocks and the street was filled with tourists checking out the various vendors, with and occasional Street musician and some side areas for Street food. There was lot of fun stuff to look and, and I could have sent a lot of time there, but I knew I needed to keep an eye on the time so I could get a reasonable amount of sleep. So I ventured in just a few blocks before turning around, leaving with only a few small items and an odd little ball of chocolate ice cream.

On the way back to the hotel was a massage place I had identified in advance. I knew I wanted a massage at some point, and with the sore muscles I had after this elephants this seemed like an appropriate time to do so. I went in and was soon disappointed to learn they the guys who do the Thai massage were not working that evening. I had to settle for a regular "aromatherapy" massage - although I must say the oil really didn't seem scented. In any case, I enjoyed a massage and made my way back to the hotel to be in bed by about Midnight.

So that was Sunday. We're still on the bus, somewhere near Lafayette. Close to wrappings this thing up...

We really got some great photos with Elephants. Check out all the May 14 photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/My-Elephant-at-Thai-Elephant-Home-1825029831056274/

Cooking School

I literally had hours to write on the plane, but instead I watched several movies and read parts of a thin New York Times. I'm not even sure I can name everything I saw, but I remember watching Sing, Manchester by the Sea, and an episode of Family Guy. Oh - of course the other movie was The Founder, which I should have remembered right off, considering I was thinking of it as I stood in line at McDonald's, the only restaurant option in the International Arrivals terminal. And there are two U.S. flags hanging above it. How intentionally and distinctly American!

The point being: now here I am blogging on a bus in stop-and-go Chicago traffic on the way back to Bloomington. The driver said there is WiFi but it appears he was wrong, so here I am typing slowly in my phone. It is unlikely I will be able to attach photos to the post. Too bad - I was looking forward to making good progress before getting home. Oh - the driver is also playing some really annoying music, so I hope I don't snap. I guess I should dig out the noise-cancelling ear buds I was wearing for the past 16 hours or so...

The last thing I wrote about was our visit to the mountaintop temple in Chiang Mai on Saturday. From there we drove north of the city to a more rural area to visit a family-run cooking school called Baanhongnual. They have a website, but apparently the Blogger app doesn't want me to create a link. There is a hyperlink icon ,but if you tap there it says you must first select text to link. If you select text, the entire interface changes and the hyperlink button disappears. Maybe you can check it out at http://baanghongnual.com.

It was a somewhat open-air space which reminded me a little of the little place we went for lunch Christmas Day 2015 in Mexico. Of course they grew some of their own ingredients on-site. We were seated at two large tables and when the time came we did our cooking, receiving instruction and did individual prep work in two large groups, then moved to the burners to cook the ingredients alone or in small groups. We made spring rolls to start (no cilantro!), and after eating them we got to work making hot and sour soup, Pad Thai, and mango sticky rice. By the time we were done we were worn out from a very long day, but full and quite satisfied wit our meal. It was a fun way to bind, and some students said that was a highlight of their trip. It was fun, except for when the student next to me dropped an egg in boiling grease that splattered on my arm. It was uncomfortable, but I'm confident the marks will go away soon.

It was a fairly quite ride back to Chiang Mai where we could finally check in to our hotel, the DusitD2. As we approached the city, we ran into a torrential downpour which lasted until after we checked in. By the time we arrived the streets were flooded and on the corner next to the hotel we saw a woman's entire electronics stand topped into the rushing water. We parked as close to the door as we could get and dashed in.  The hotel was trendy (orange is trendy, right?); check in was ready to go and easy, fortunately. Unfortunately, one student's bag seems to have fallen into the wet. She was upset, but the hotel offered to clean anything that a needed it. I got to my room and discovered that my bag was wet, too. I suspect water got in through the the bus Bay doors, but who knows. I emptied everything out of my bag and spread it around the room, then used the hairdryer to try out some of my clothes before crawling into bed.

Look at that - finished up this story right at the Indiana state line.

Chiang Mai Arrival

Saturday morning we left the hotel early for the airport - not the one we arrived at - to fly to Chiang Mai. We left our big bags with the hotel concierge so we wouldn't have to take everything for the weekend. Dom and O helped us get checked in, and all went smoothly so we arrived with time to spare. Our boxed breakfasts from the hotel did not include coffee so we dashed to the Starbucks we saw just past the security checkpoint. I skipped a hot coffee in favor of a Popzel Frappe, which I first saw advertised at the lobby Starbucks in the Starbucks building. I think it was a regular frappe with caramel, a few pieces of caramel corn and a pretzel on top. I passed on the whipped cream, because of course I'm not a glutton.

Once we had our drinks, we walked to the gate which was at the end of a nearly empty terminal. Along the way, Brenda noticed about nine other coffee vendors which we think belies the claim that Thailand is not a coffee-drinking country. The three of us sat among a sea of pink chairs and I blogged while we waited to board our flight.

We landed in Chaing Mai before Noon, and we were immediately struck by the beauty of the nearby mountains. Our guide Pan met us at the airport and once we were on the bus he had the driver take us on a short tour around the city. The one-time capital of a northern kingdom, Chaing Mai sits along the attractive river Ping and still prominently features a moat and portions of the medieval wall and gates that originally surrounded the city. We stopped for a quite impressive buffet lunch at the Empress Hotel, which also featured an impressive entrance and lobby as well as live music in the dining room. The lunch included traditional Thai dishes, salads, fruits, dim sum, sushi, soups, and a dessert bar, but we were all delighted by the little fish-shaped waffles that accompanied the ice cream bar. After eating more than we should have, it was time to go to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep on top of Doi Suthep mountain.

Lunch at the Empress.

Fruit, ice cream, and waffle.

Empress Lobby, with memorial to King Rama IX.

In the taxi, before our trip up the mountain.

The bus took us to meet four songtaews, or small pickup trucks with benches built into the bed which operate as taxis. We piled into the songtaews and proceeded to climb, at considerable speed, up a very steep and winding road the the temple. The bus never would have made it. After probably half an hour, and only minor motion sickness, we arrived at what seemed like a small village where we boarded a cable car to take us up to the temple. The main feature of the temple was the very tall gilded stupa which is said to contain a piece of bone from Buddha. We also saw a teak-wood carving depicting the story of the temple, prayer bells of various sizes, Buddha statues representing various styles and various days of the week, various temple rooms where monks sat giving blessings. A number of visitors walked counter-clockwise around the stupa carrying candles; others prayed or sat with the monks. The most annoying of the observant very loudly shook containers of bamboo sticks until one would fall out and reveal something important,  such as a potentially winning lottery number. In spite of the temple's beauty, it all seemed a bit complicated and overwhelming to me. I did have a nice moment when I ducked into a room to take a picture of a student. A monk beckoned both of us over and tried sting bracelets to our wrists. The guide later told me it was for good luck, and most people would wear it for three to five days. I'm still wearing mine.

After leaving the temple proper we went around the back side where we finally got to see the amazing views of Chaing Mai and the valley below. the views were breathtaking, and it was a great photo opportunity. once we pulled the students away from the photo op, we descended the 309 steps back down to meet the songtaews. The steps, which I'm glad we didn't have to climb, are lined with ceramic tile dragons which run the entire length of the staircase. Impressive and beautiful. Once down, we boarded the songtaews to descend the mountain, not really sticking to any particular lane in the road, and we were off to the next adventure. To be continued... I've got to go to bed.

 

The view from Doi Suthep.