Ayutthaya---The Ancient Empire

Ayutthaya--- The Ancient Kingdom of Siam's Central Plains (1351 AD- 1767)

In between the last tours, I took a day trip outside of Bangkok and headed North (3 hours by local train) to the UNESCO World Heritage ancient city of Ayutthaya. Ryan (ISV project leader) and I rented bicycles for the day (only 50 Baht!) and cycled our way through the ruins of the old city.

A lot of these structures were built in the early 1400s and were temples and palaces representing the strongest period of history in the fight against the Burmese invasions. In 1767 the city was destroyed by the Burmese army, and burned to the ground. The Burmese supposedly destroyed everything sacred to the Thais, including manuscripts, temples and religious sculptures....this could be bias-soaked information I was given though.

These lions stand guarding the entrance to the temple's sacred stupa/chedi (structure that is believed to hold sacred scripture, Buddha relic and/or Buddha bone)...the architecture looked Khmer (Cambodian) in style, more so than Thai traditional representation of the lions.

Ryan striking a pose, near one of the more scenic lakes of the ruins:

Ryan climbing the steps of an ancient chedi...

The famous 3 pagodas: Wat Phra Si Sanphet---the site served as the royal palace from the city's founding until the mid-15th c. when it was converted into a temple. Although the grounds are now well taken care of in comparison to others, they can't hide the effects of war and time.

The surrounding buildings are worn through to their orange bricks, leaning to one side from gravity over time. This complex used to hold a 16m high Buddha standing statue that was covered in gold; it was melted down by the Burmese conquerors.

Big Buddha---Little Buddha:

More of the grounds...

Sometimes it felt like we were walking through a maze, one could easily get lost in the feeling of stepping back in time.

Buddha, being swallowed by a fig tree. This used to be a sitting Buddha, but now all that remains to be seen is only the head.

Defaced Buddhas---unknown if they've been defaced by time, or defaced during the Burmese army's invasions.

The ferry to and from the train station to the old city: one bored boat man goes back and forth all day long, the 5 minute ride from one side of the river to the other...

A video to help catch the mood of the park...including traditional Thai temple music for ambiance!

In the end, not a bad day trip to kill the time in between adventure tours!

The Lush Valleys of the North

Part 1----The Lush Valleys of the North:

The ancient city of Chiang Mai and the Mae Taeng jungles---- activities: white water rafting class IV+ rapids, trekking to remote Hill-Tribe communities, and up-close encounters with the sweetest Ele's in the world.

Our white water rafting company is spot on when it comes to doing what they do....except for the few times they make some strange decisions. This time, Tim (our Kiwi safety kayaker) decided it would be fun to perch on a rock in the middle of the rapids to watch the boats come out....I'm on the upper left corner, leaning over the boat trying to make sure these guys didn't get knocked out from the slamming of our boat! I do admit, I had a huge smile on my face. I was half expecting to see them go swimming!

These are the Rafting boys, and some of the coolest friends I have here in the North. After rafting these guys always ride into town with us and a big night on the town always follows!

Before we go rafting, we spend 3 days trekking in the jungle visiting remote Hill Tribe villages. These villages are all nomadic peoples traditionally migrating from the South of China and Tibet hundreds of years ago. Until recently they were considered pests to the Thai government, and only now are there projects aimed at introducing these populations into Thai civil society. The biggest effort is providing free schooling for the young children before they reach the age where they need to work the rice fields: 12-13 years old.

They are animist villages who have maintained societal structures and beliefs taught from their ancestors; still following their ways even now over 1,000 years later. On this trip, our students are exposed to a way of life literally locked in time: they visit with shamans (witch doctors), drink black tea with Tiger hunters, chew beetle nut with the elderly women, pound rice with the workers, and learn new dialects of Chinese origin...All the while trekking through some of the most beautiful virgin tropical evergreen forest remaining in Thailand.

These young boys are part of the Lahu tribe, once known to be the most powerful since they were accomplished Tiger hunters. They are now the remotest of villages and the most isolated from Thai society. None of these boys understood a word of Thai I tried to speak to them, so instead they responded to my camera with a peace sign and a holler of 'Abu-n-jow' which is Lahu for thank you. Shortly after the monsoon rains started pouring down and they all immediately stripped down and had public play 'nakey' time!

The Lahu village is also the village where we spend one night overlooking the entire Mae Taeng valley and the province of Chiang Mai. Mid-trek I stopped to take a picture of our trekking goal: the village on top of the mountain far off in the cloudy distance.

Zac Da, our Akha trekking guide, always smiley and he loves to practice his English with me. A new addition to my niche of friends, but a much loved one :)

Along the way some students making their way through the clouds.

A stop for taking a much needed rest and a dip in the waterfall! This is always a blessing, since at this point I'm starting to smell like jungle rot.

Finally, trek over and time to enjoy the fruits of our struggle! The second I've showered and changed, I pose at the top of the mountain, for our overnight stay with the Lahu village.

An Akha woman in traditional garb, most easily recognized by their head-dresses laced with Indian rupees for decoration and merit. She was kind enough to offer us tea and bananas during a stop on our trekking venture.

Village life: includes waking up to rolling mists from the clouds hanging low, and trapping chickens in cages to keep the livestock from being killed and eaten by wild cats or pigs.

And then of course...there's ele heaven, known as Elephant Nature Park:

The new addition to the park, the little boy tucked between his aunties' legs, is only a couple months old now. He's recently discovered how to trip his mahout (elephant handler) and how to keep the dogs away...all he has to do is toot from his trunk and his Mother and Aunties come running to his rescue forming a blockade of elephant mass...he tends to abuse this privilege.

Some parting shots of Chiang Mai:

In the middle May is praying to the Lord Buddha: 3 times she bows in respect---1, to pay respect to the Lord Buddha; 2, to pay respect to his teachings; 3, to pay respect to the community of monks who carries out his message.

A shot of the famous walking street market from the roof of my favorite bar. On the right, the lovely Nim...the manager of the hotel we frequent on tour and another best friend here in Chiang Mai: she's my confidente and my relationship counselor!

Part 2---coming soon...the Golden South!

Young Voters Targeted

I personally think they're targeting voters a little too young, but that's just me!

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Yea!!! Cooper's first appearance on the i-screen!!!

Khao Sok Lake Tour

Hi All!


Some photos for your viewing pleasure...this is the newest addition to our Thailand Adventure Tour program this season.

It's a full on lake tour, of the Khao Sok National Park in the southern peninsula of the country. It's one of the last habitats (protected) in Thailand where wild elephants roam, Malay bears munch, barking and lesser mouse deer run free; and where dusky langurs swing from below the same canopy-top trees the rare white-handed gibbons sing from :)

It's also the best place to see the incredible Great Hornbill flock, sometimes in groups of 20-30 birds at once!





The trip is one of my favorite days on the tour: we start with trekking; bamboo rafting to a remote cave; caving in a monolith over 75 million years old, that was once part of a coral reef system 5x the size of today's Great Barrier Reef; then lunch at a beautiful floating restaurant from which we spend the rest of our afternoon kayaking around the lake (165 square km!).

at the floating restaurant...



Pi Dam, our guide for the lake tours this season, and a great friend!












I took some photos for you guys, hope you enjoy!









Love,
Stef


monoliths, littered along the Khao Sok lake....








glamour shot! on the bamboo raft to the cave...









Queen and May, two Thai tour leaders I work with...oh and Kieran in the background there!

From Stef in Bangkok: city of angels....and trouble!

6/13/2008

Hi Guys!

I'm in Bangkok right now, on my way back to Chiang Mai tonight to meet my second group this season....and to start a whole new 2 week adventure tour!

I'll be saying goodbye to my first group this afternoon, and I can honestly say I'll be sad to see some go. I'll also be glad to see some go....

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I've been partying hard the past 3 nights in a row in honor of my ageing (aging??). The day before my birthday was coming off of the 3 day hike we do up to the indigenous hill tribes in the northern mountains. We went white water rafting, and the water was so high (class 5!) I got thrown out of my boat with about 20 other students a few hundred times...best rafting trip ever! That night we went to a bar/club called riverside for drinks, live music, and....tequila shots....yugh!

The next day, my birthday, was the 13 hour overnight train to Bangkok so I slept the tequila off and caught up on some much needed downtime. The day we got into Bangkok we went out that night again to a nightlife hotspot in the SW corner of the city called Khao San Road. More live music, cover bands, beer towers (4 liters of beer at once!) shooting pool, and dancing....good times good times, until....the PING PONG SHOW!

At 2:30 in the am I saw a group of 12 or so of my students wandering off into the night, very very drunk. Somehow they got the bright idea to go to a ping-pong show, and even though I told them the girls were all Burmese sex slaves, they still wanted to go 'check it out!' I wasn't getting through to them, so I started grabbing them and dragged them to another dance club, telling them that the ping-pong shows were all closed for the night (which of course is a total lie...)

Point is, disaster averted! They were too drunk to fight with me, so we went to a dance club for another hour or so until they were too tired to stay out anymore.

Bangkok....always trouble in Bangkok.....

The past few days have been rough celebrations for my birthday, and end of tour with my students. Looking forward to sleeping on the plane tonight and catching up on my reading....I'm definitely feeling older, and my body is definitely not up to the same party stamina it used to be in college!

Safe and sound, and still deliriously happy in life :)
Stef

Namaste India!

Hi guys,

I'm new to this blogging world, so be gentle...I just wanted to upload some of my favorite photos from India.

The picture with the camel 'Lucky' was taken behind the Taj Mahal. There's a dry riverbed that runs behind the Taj, and its where the gypsies bring their children and cattle to 'roam free'. It's also the first time I was able to find a place of peace and quiet, coming to Agra direct from New Delhi...so needless to say it was a huge breath of fresh air hanging out back here! Ialso got my first Hindi lesson from a kind, though strict! camel man.

...India... a country of nonsense. A country where even the simplest of tasks requires the efforts of 2-3 men, each of whom expect a tip (baksheesh). Despite the neglect suffered from its own countrymen, India has the potential to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited.

This is Pushkar's Holy Lake, taken from a rooftop at sunset. This is the lake where Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were scattered, and appropriately known as Gandhi Ghat.

Rajasthan villages we visited while on our camel safari. These kids were distracted by their cricket game, but do not be deceived...the village children were essentially a mob waiting to pounce on the 'white tourists.'

Camping 3 days 2 nights on the sand dunes, India-Pakistan border. Udaipur, known famously as the city where 'Octopussy' was filmed. Every guesthouse was showing the James Bond movie, 7 pm sharp, 7 days a week.
Varanasi, the holiest city in India. Where pilgrimage is made to the Ganges River. Hindus believe that the water from the Ganges can cleanse a person's soul of all past sins, and that it can also cure the ill. It's also where families from all over the country bring the bodies of their loved ones, for immersion sends the soul to heaven and will stop reincarnation, making the life cycle complete.

The Ghat closest to frame is a famous burning pyre, where after bodies are bathed in the holy river they're cremated here in the hopes of stopping reincarnation. Bodies are burned all morning and all throughout the night...and it's one hell of an intimate ceremony to experience.

Udaipur, and all throughout the country this is a common sight: cows waiting for chapati, and essentially begging for food.

India: a country that celebrates color.

Jaisalmer desert nights, colors in the sky like I've never seen before!

Namaste India!!!!

Love Stef