The Big Meander

• Bangkok ~ challenging by day, lovely by night. – When you go to the tropics there is only so much sun one can handle. Honestly, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Bangkok was hot, humid and uncomfortable. Between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. it was lovely as long as there was a breeze. One night in Bangkok and the world’s your […]
• Week #31 ~ Recap – 721 Kilometers, 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1 museum, 1 national park, 13 temples, 1 water taxi, 1 rice barge dinner cruise, 2 night markets, UNDER budget by $186.78. Sometimes when you drive up to the top of a mountain, all you see is clouds. We drove to the highest point in Thailand in Doi […]
• Elephant Love – I didn’t expect to have such an emotional response to seeing the elephants at Maetang Elephant Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I couldn’t stop my eyes from filling with tears as they gently took the bananas and sugar cane from my hand. Or my heart from swelling as I carefully washed their skin in the river. They were […]
• The adventure begins… Chiang Rai – The prelude to our Southeast Asian tour actually started with two nights in Bangkok in an attempt to adjust to the Indochina Time Zone (only 14 hours ahead of Denver, Colorado). But our first actual stop was Chiang Rai, Thailand. Greeted by our guide, “Danny” ~ Mr. Pongsatorn Jitpraphai, as we came off the short flight […]
• Chasing royalty: Sukhothai and Ayutthaya – Thailand has a long history of Kings (yes, only kings), uniting varied provinces and leading with foresight and pragmatism. One of these kings ~ the third king of the Phra Ruang Dynasty, Ram Khamhaeng, ruled Thailand in the late 13th century, he invented the Thai alphabet and according to some sources is credited with the […]