There are more than 41,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand, of which more than 33,000 are actively in use. The term “wat” is a Thai word for enclosure, and now refers to any Buddhist or Brahminical temple. 95% of the 70 million people in Thailand are Buddhists. In 2019, we were “templed out” on our last […]
Thailand 1 – Rediscovering Chiang Mai
When we planned our trip to SE Asia, we had not anticipated making a stop in Thailand. Then, David and Yao, our friends from Cuenca, moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to become expats last year during Covid lockdown. Because of Covid, Thailand was not open to fully vaccinated international visitors without restrictions until July 1, […]
Galleries Ready!
The galleries are now online for our recent trip. All six countries! Amazingly, we are now completely caught up from a 10-week trip only 5 days after the end of the trip. That has got to be some kind of record for us! You can see the galleries by choosing “Travel->2019” from the menu at […]
Home After Whirlwind 10 Weeks
We are back home, and loving it! Yes, the travel was fantastic. The places were fantastic. The people were (mostly…) fantastic. But our own beds and showers are more welcome after a long trip like this. After 10 weeks covering 6 countries, we did so much that it is hard for it not to start […]
Thailand 11 – Bangkok Farewell
We returned to Bangkok for a few days visiting a friend from Cuenca who is working here for seven months. We visited another floating market, Bang Nanpheung, and had to take quite a circuitous route to get there, using multiple transportation services. Later, through the kindness of strangers helping give us directions, we returned home, […]
Thailand 10 – Chiang Mai
We are now in Chiang Mai, which ends our group tour in Thailand. There are more than 300 temples in Chiang Mai. Our morning walking tour only included seven (Pha Bong Temple, Wat Dab Phai, Wat PhrasingH, Wat Pra Singh Voramaharihara, Wat Phantao, Wat Jetlin and Wat Chediluang Worawihan, but that was more than enough. […]
Thailand 9 – Chiang Rai
Sometimes fortune just smiles on you when you travel. Today was one of those days. We had driven to a small town to pick up a long-tail boat for a ride down the river. As we arrived, we discovered the village was about to start an “elephant feast.” Once a year the village puts together […]
Thailand 8 – Mae Salong
We started this morning by visiting a tea plantation (Tea 101), where the tea was actively being harvested. We were allowed to wander into the fields to see and photograph the workers up close. We saw the women (no men) either using scissors or simply tearing the new top leaves off the plants. Afterwards, we […]
Thailand 7 – Chiang Saen
We were all supposed to leave the hotel this morning at 5:00AM, so we could hike to the top of a local peak for what was promised to be an unsurpassed sunrise experience. The forecast was for more polluted air, so personally I decided a couple extra hours sleep sounded better. Evelyn and the rest […]
Thailand 6 – Pha Tang
Every morning at 7:00AM, the monks go to the temple in Pha Tang to receive food and alms from the local people. The head monk offers daily blessings in return. We got up early to see the people prepare the food and watched the procession, as shown above. Along the way, we came across some […]