Thailand - January 2007
Happy New Year!!
Hope you are all well. We were so enamored with southern Thailand and Bangkok in ‘04, we took this opportunity to go back and see the north.
We hung out a few days in Bangkok first, taking a cooking class, and enjoying the festive atmosphere. The Thais have the utmost reverence for their monarch. King Rama IX is the world’s longest reigning, living sovereign (he beats Elizabeth II by 6 years). His 60th anniversary was last month and the Thais are still celebrating. The royal color is yellow and it’s notably worn by everyone in every way.
A teacher in Bridget’s Vermont school was part of the English program at the Patumwan Thai School when it was founded ten years ago. She hooked us up with her friends and we spent a good part of the day touring the school, chatting with staff and sitting in on classes. It’s an impressive program with the students studying completely in English. They also learn Chinese, French and Japanese. We better start catching up!
We set off to the most northern province of Chiang Rai to meet our adventure travel guides and spent the next five days hiking, biking and riding motor scooters (and yes, elephants!) to amazing destinations.
The highlight for me was the last day of December. We rode a twisty mountain border road into an area dominated by the ethnic hilltribe groups. We trekked a path that went by their homes and beautifully maintained farms and ended up in middle of the town’s New Year’s festival. The Thai New Year is in April, but January 1st is a good excuse for a party. All the locals were enjoying rides made of rickety teak that looked scary to me, but our two dove in.
That night we launched a few khoom fay fire lanterns in honor of the new year. These are like mini-hot air balloons and you hold yours until it fills up enough to lift off. As it rises into the sky, you release 2006 ills, while making 2007 wishes. Wait, I’ve got it wrong. It’s the year 2550 according to the Thai calendar. Now I’m not sure exactly which year I’ll get my wish.
The next day we did more riding along the border. “Myanmar” is the name the locals prefer for the neighboring country, while English-speakers say “Burma”. A very poor country, it has suffered under military government’s infighting. Standing at the border, Thailand’s pruned and maintained areas were a sharp contrast to Myanmar’s unkempt terrain.
We spent the night at the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. China creeps in there too. We visited the excellent Opium Museum run by the Queen Mother’s foundation. This region of Thailand was overrun with opium fields not too long ago. Thailand eradicated the opium by giving the people incentives to reforest the area, plant tea, fruit and coffee all while preserving the northern culture. It was heartening to see such a positive outcome.
Next we found ourselves following the Laos border as we took a long-tail boat down the Mekong River. This massive river runs through seven countries (Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). We even got to say we were officially in Laos by stopping at an island along the way. No passport necessary.
I’m missing it all already. The scenery was like nothing else and I loved finding shrines and Buddhas in unlikely spots. It was a busy time of festivals and celebration and the Thai people are so full of life.
Best wishes for 2007/2550!
Love, barbara
Pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/~iverlink Folder called 1.ThailandDec.Jan07. If you’re interested in the school see - 2.Patumwan School-Bangkok
Blog: http://iversonjpn.blogspot.com/
Hope you are all well. We were so enamored with southern Thailand and Bangkok in ‘04, we took this opportunity to go back and see the north.
We hung out a few days in Bangkok first, taking a cooking class, and enjoying the festive atmosphere. The Thais have the utmost reverence for their monarch. King Rama IX is the world’s longest reigning, living sovereign (he beats Elizabeth II by 6 years). His 60th anniversary was last month and the Thais are still celebrating. The royal color is yellow and it’s notably worn by everyone in every way.
A teacher in Bridget’s Vermont school was part of the English program at the Patumwan Thai School when it was founded ten years ago. She hooked us up with her friends and we spent a good part of the day touring the school, chatting with staff and sitting in on classes. It’s an impressive program with the students studying completely in English. They also learn Chinese, French and Japanese. We better start catching up!
We set off to the most northern province of Chiang Rai to meet our adventure travel guides and spent the next five days hiking, biking and riding motor scooters (and yes, elephants!) to amazing destinations.
The highlight for me was the last day of December. We rode a twisty mountain border road into an area dominated by the ethnic hilltribe groups. We trekked a path that went by their homes and beautifully maintained farms and ended up in middle of the town’s New Year’s festival. The Thai New Year is in April, but January 1st is a good excuse for a party. All the locals were enjoying rides made of rickety teak that looked scary to me, but our two dove in.
That night we launched a few khoom fay fire lanterns in honor of the new year. These are like mini-hot air balloons and you hold yours until it fills up enough to lift off. As it rises into the sky, you release 2006 ills, while making 2007 wishes. Wait, I’ve got it wrong. It’s the year 2550 according to the Thai calendar. Now I’m not sure exactly which year I’ll get my wish.
The next day we did more riding along the border. “Myanmar” is the name the locals prefer for the neighboring country, while English-speakers say “Burma”. A very poor country, it has suffered under military government’s infighting. Standing at the border, Thailand’s pruned and maintained areas were a sharp contrast to Myanmar’s unkempt terrain.
We spent the night at the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. China creeps in there too. We visited the excellent Opium Museum run by the Queen Mother’s foundation. This region of Thailand was overrun with opium fields not too long ago. Thailand eradicated the opium by giving the people incentives to reforest the area, plant tea, fruit and coffee all while preserving the northern culture. It was heartening to see such a positive outcome.
Next we found ourselves following the Laos border as we took a long-tail boat down the Mekong River. This massive river runs through seven countries (Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). We even got to say we were officially in Laos by stopping at an island along the way. No passport necessary.
I’m missing it all already. The scenery was like nothing else and I loved finding shrines and Buddhas in unlikely spots. It was a busy time of festivals and celebration and the Thai people are so full of life.
Best wishes for 2007/2550!
Love, barbara
Pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/~iverlink Folder called 1.ThailandDec.Jan07. If you’re interested in the school see - 2.Patumwan School-Bangkok
Blog: http://iversonjpn.blogspot.com/
posted by Barbara Meehan Iverson at 8:04 PM
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