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May 02, 2005

My Thai

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Hello again! After 10 days of being away, it feels like centuries have passed. Leijonakaupunki once again seems to be a true comedy, somehow I forgot how absurd it was.. Listing the papers was quite a shock again, not even amusing anymore.. But more on that later, I'm late with my stories from Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand.

Traveling alone was not the most fun way to travel, but otherwise, quite a bearable thing to do. Thailand is such an easy place to travel, so it was a bit tough maybe just the first day. There's lots of people, both men and women traveling alone in there, so there was no hassle, no trouble, nobody wondering why I'm alone.. However, towards the end of the trip, I changed my ticket to come back to Leijonakaupunki at an earlier date.. some 8-9 days of "being single" was quite enough for me... :)

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I would definitely like to come to Northern Thailand again, but in another season. It is a beautiful and an easy going place, but it was quite impossible to appreciate all the nice things there, as it was about +40C all the time.

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I am quite confused about the seasons here (and there, in Thailand), aparently its the hot season there that follows a cold season (temperatures could drop to OC degrees up in the hills). People call it "spring" and it looks a bit like spring in Europe, many trees are without leaves and the grass is brown. However, as it is about +40C, so I could imagine that the grass could be brown because it is burned, not because it was very cold some time ago. Besides all that, some trees are sprouting new fresh green leaves in that heat.. So I really don't know what to think about all this..

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It was a bit sad to be there at this time - the hills must look so much more beautiful when they are green and lush..

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Northern Thailand is a very interesting place. There is an amazing mix of Thai, Burmese, Laos people and at least 6 different types of hill tribes (+ all the varieties and crosses in between). Since centuries ago, it was (and aparently still is) an important opium growing and trading crossroad. The areas nominally belong to Thailand, but there's plenty of undercurrents going on. The warlords that controlled the areas around the borders were (and are) fighting with the Thai and Myanmar army from time to time and their families still hold a lot of power in these places. Current Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra comes from Northern Thailand and by "creatively" mixing business, politics and his family infulence, he continues with the feudal ways of ruling the country (and enriching his family). Here's more on Thaksin, if you're interested.

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As a tourist you don't get to see or hear any of the stories about fighting. Mae Hong Son, was probably the most beautiful stop during my trip. It is right at the Burmese border and seems to be more popular among local Thai tourists than foreigners. It is in a beautiful river valley and feels very quiet and relaxed.

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I knew that there are many refugee camps around Mae Hong Son and we actually went to see the famous "long-neck" Karen people in one of them. It felt very embarrasing and I don't think that I would do any of this "visiting hill tribes" again in my life. The whole place is set up like a zoo, people come, take pictures (just like I did) and possibly buy something of their handcrafts. I just couldn't wonder much about these people, because they're so very normal, they have a school and a church. Btw, they're roman catholics. Think about the new pope! He's the "spiritual leader" of these people too.. Is he even aware that these people exist?

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But as I returned to Chiang Mai, I got to chat with a French photojournalist that was going to cross the Burmese border (illegally, of course) and make a report and take pictures of fighting going on between Shan state (the biggest ethnic minority in Myanmar) that announced their independence 15 days ago (and that I bet you haven't heard about from BBC or CNN) and some local warlord. It is so confusing, all these different sides and parties involved.. There's even a KMT village (KMT - the Chinese nationalist party, currently and opposition party in Taiwan) made out of pre-2nd world-war Chinese army (involved in some opium fights, of course) that couldn't come back to China because of communist revolution in mainland China. So part of them settled down and became farmers, while others kept fighting and trading opium, still keeping their Chinese identity and grip on opium business strong. All these places i visited and I didn't have a clue (I drank tea and bought some nice oolong tea in the KMT village!) You can just ride a bus across the country and never have any idea what is really going on (except that Thai army and police stops you at check points some 4-5 times in 1 hour). Later on I read more about all these things happening there and it was very very strange, because you don't see anything from the surface.

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A beautiful place on the way was this buddhist-animist fish cave. I guess these fish are holy. When I asked at my lunch place if the fish they use is from the cave they cried "nooooo" and were staring at me quite hostile..

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After spending some 20 hours in different modes of transportation while traveling along the burmese border (the picture on the right was taken before some 20 more people managed to squeeze in at the next bus stop..), I felt very ripe for some peace and quiet in the soothing embrace of civilization in Chiang Mai.

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It is a very beautiful and "cultural" town with temples on every corner of the street. During the first days I was taking lots of pictures, then, I couldn't be bothered anymore.

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However, during my visits to the temples I learned that my Buddah is the one with the 9-headed snake hovering over his head (see in the picture on the right?) as I was born on Saturday (my mother could correct me if I'm wrong). It is usually the biggest and the most beautiful Buddah.. (Others are in meditation or some other postures..) Check out which one is your Buddah. I wouldn't mind having the Tuesday one too.. he he..

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There's lots of hill tribe-hippy style stuff in Chiang Mai + lots of tribes people trying to make a baht or two. Once again I saw children playing another game of our childhood with a string. In English it is called "cats cradle". Isn't it amazing, how truly global these games are?

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I rode a bicycle around Chiang Mai, the trafic is crazy and it is real hell to cross the strees with all the dust and noise, so many of exclusively tourist-oriented activities offered a safe haven for me.

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Such as this Thai cooking course.

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I learned how to make a pad thai (fried thai noodles), green curry paste, tom yum (spicy soup), its so easy! and so fast! I'll definitely start cooking more!

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There's more pictures available at the cooking school's website.

super_hieroja.jpg kaj_feet.jpg And the last days in Chiang Mai I spent learning Thai massage. It was a proper course, but sqeezed into 3 days, so one day I ended up doing (giving and receiving) Thai massage for 9 hours!! As I was walking home, I was ready to kick tires! I was so nervous tired, aching, well, I almost died... :) I said to myself that if I'd have to do this for a living, I'd ask them to shoot me first... But the teacher said that I have a good hand and that if I practice more, I could be a good masseuse. Kaj thinks that i have a "good hand" too.. :) Anybody willing to be my guinney pig? PS. Kaj wants me to write smth about him too, since he was not in Thailand, he asks to write at least that he went cycling today in Bukit Timah.. He he.. Here it is. + He wants to include this picture of his wounded feet to show how heroic he is.

Posted by gkligyte at May 2, 2005 04:01 PM
Comments
Hey - penis enlargement pills - Posted by: penis enlargement pills on April 26, 2006 04:10 AM
Fity!! You're on my list! Kaj is actually too bony and too long (now Kaj read this and he says I should write "too muscular" he he...) for me to exercise thai massage properly. Do you have time this weekend?!? :) Posted by: Giedre on May 11, 2005 10:23 PM
Hi Giedre! Now that your teacher said that you have agood hand and that you should practise more here I willingly offer myself to thee to be your willing guinea pig! Nine hour of massage sounds like an extended orgawm to me. The longest I've had was for three hour (massage that is). On another note, all of you seemed to be having so much FUN at the zoo where the animals almost roam freely... Posted by: Fity on May 11, 2005 02:40 AM
Noriu, noriu sugrizhti i Europa, bet tik ne is karto.. Cionais dar visko pilna nepaziureta.. :) Bet planuojam jau vasara, kad liepos vidury gal istruksim.. Turiu savaite atostogu, reik bandyt susiorganizuot antra savaite.. Posted by: Giedre on May 4, 2005 10:35 PM
Sveika, Giedrute. Busiu bene pirmoji perziurejusi tavo ispudzius, nes nuo ryto dar nieko neradau. Viskas labai egzotiska, tik man viso to butu tikrai perdaug. Matyt turiu daugau seslumo genu nei nomadisku... Kartais svarstau is kur tavyje tiek daug noru keliauti ir nesugalvoju. O tu dar kartais nori ir sugristi i tuos karscio nualintus (?) peizazus, o i Europa ne? Posted by: mama on May 2, 2005 10:23 PM
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