Chiang Mai by Scooter

To whom it may concern,

An ancient device used to keep monks fit

Writing from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (aka. Saigon), it is my honor to have been nominated to produce this two-part update on our most recent adventures in Thailand and Cambodia. Having been inspired by watching The Desolation of Smaug last night with Carol at a downtown movie theater (English, with Vietnamese subtitles), I will try to keep the stories just as epic, but the duration a bit more reasonable.

The astute reader will recall that our previous post was written from Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand, a fantastic place to try new foods, explore temples, try other new foods, admire handicrafts, go back to trying old foods, and of course watching Muay Thai kickboxers try and kill each other to the strains of traditional Thai music.

With regards to gastronomical observations, I won't go bore you with details, but... Chiang Mai Breakfast World. Enough said. Anyhow, between fantastic meals, Carol and I participated in a wide variety of healthier activities, which included (but were not limited to):

• Riding our scooter around town
• Dodging elephants on our scooter
• Learning to 'filter' on our scooter through traffic
• Finding extremely remote national parks on our scooter
• Getting lost on our scooter trying to find extremely remote national parks
• Riding our scooter up to the summit temple of Doi Suthep at sunrise

One of many scooter outings into the wilds of Thailand

Additional highlights that did not involve the scooter were also memorable. For instance, we got the chance to have lunch and attend church with friends Paul and Robyn who work for TLC, an English language training center, coffee house, and church in Chiang Mai. Despite the fact that the students were still on break, it was clear that this was a very busy place, with loads of college students participating in the classes and using the cafe as a place of study and conversation with the teachers and volunteers. We even got to join in the traditional Sunday lunch that was generously provided after the service and meet some of the other volunteers and staff that help keep the organization running.

Chiang Mai Breakfast World

We also enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the old city with Frank and Crystal, a couple from Seattle, WA that we met by pure chance one afternoon. They were just starting out on their own long term adventure in South East Asia, and it was a great opportunity to swap stories and recommendations of things to see and do. Frank's enthusiasm about the Seattle Seahawks was also entertaining, and brought my thoughts back to Olympia readily, wondering whether there would be any conflicting shreds of support for the 49ers left over in the Stevick house.

On that note, I will sign off and continue the narration in another post to avoid any TLDNR responses.

Cheers,

Joe