Where do I begin…..I wanted to go to Thailand. So, I e-mailed my travel agent, Susi that works for World Travellers’ Club in San Francisco, CA. www.around-the-world.com . (Just in case you need a travel agent). I wanted to do an Intrepid trip www.intrepidtravel.com because I have done 3 in the past and this is my 4th trip, I like them because you don’t have to worry about hotel or transportation, which takes up a lot of time, guess it is the lazy way out and believe me I’m lazy with a capitol L. Searching the Intrepid web site, I found the perfect trip with was an 18 day trip in Thailand which included Bangkok, Chiang Mai, hill tribes, elephant riding, beaches of Koh Samui, which was a fantastic mix of active adventure and lazing on the beach (which I didn’t get to do because of the floods but more on that later in the story). Meeting the people and trying to understand the culture of Thailand for the short time that I was there, from hill tribes in the north to the striking jungle and beaches of the south, this trip has it all.

I arrived 1 day early to get orientated (which is a joke for me) and to try to get adjusted to the 12 hr time difference. It was a long flight, up early and 1 and ½ hr drive from my house to the airport then flight into Chicago, and from there to Tokyo and then on to Bangkok International Airport or also known as Don Muang, arrived around midnight. Out the door to get a taxi after picking up backpack with no problems getting through customs, (I exchanged 20 US$$ at the airport so I would have taxi money) which cost me 350 Thai Baht (it was normally around 40 Baht to 1 US dollar). Into the car at 1215 and to my hotel at 1240, the driver was going 120 k/hr most of the way (not sure why we were in such a hurry).

Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace. Also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha,

Phra Kaew is an architectural wonder of gleaming jehdii (stupas) seemingly buoyed above the ground,

with polished orange-and-green roof tiles piercing the humid sky, mosaic-encrusted pillars and rich marble pediments

The highly stylized ornamentation is a shrine to the Emerald Buddha,

and the temple complex adjoins the former residence of the monarch, the Grand Palace.

The ground was consecrated in 1782,

145/1-2 Chiang Mai- Sankampaeng Road, K.M.7, Sankampaeng, Chiang Mai 50130, THAILAND
www.ShinawatraThaiSilk.co.th
for export www.ShinawatraThaiSilk.com

Thailand's longest-established factory for hand woven silk built upon a thousand year tradition of fine craftsmanship.

The Shinawatra Silk Company leads both in introducing new textile technology and in creating innovative designs while setting the highest standards for consistent quality in this most precious of hand woven cloth.

Soley owned and exactingly run by the Shinawatra family. The company's reputation as a model of excellence has attracted distinguished visitors, royalty and guest of the Thai Government through the years.

Botanically named broussonetia papyrifera, Sa paper is made from the bark of the mulberry tree. Initially, the bark is soaked in clean water for about 24 hours.

Then it is boiled iwth several kinds of ashes for about 3-4 hours and rinsed cleaned with water. Next the material is beaten with mallets until tender and thereafter fibers are put into a water-filled tank and stirred with a paddle until the fibers are suspended in the water.

The fibers are then sifted with a screen and dired in the sun for about 20 minutes. Once dried, sheets of paper are formed which can be peeled off easily. This is the paper used in double layer to cover the umbrella frame and later be painted.

The covering material is pasted onto the umbrella frame by a special mixture of paste and persimmon fruit secretion, which helps tense and waterproof the umbrella.

created to welcome Princess Diana in 1988.

were placed in a howdah on the back of a white elephant, which carried them to Wat Phrathat, then it dropped dead due to fatigue from long journey.

the present complex dates from the 16 century and was expanded or restore several times later. A flight of 306 steps, bordered by a NAGA balustrade, leads up from the parking area to the temple, wich has beautifully decorrated buildings and a Lanna-style chedi covered with engraved gold plates, flanked by four ornamental umbrellas.

Population: 28,000
Origin: Tibet
Present Location: Thailand, Yunnan
Economy: rice, corn, opium, livestock

Belief System: animism with ancestor worship and spirit possession

woman from the Lisu Village in the north of Thailand

The woman wear long multicoloured tunics over trousers and sometimes black turbans with tassels. Men wear baggy green or blue pants pegged in at the ankles

Patrilineal clans have pan-tribal jurisdiction, which makes the Lisu unique among hill-tribe groups (most of which have power centred with either a shaman or a village headman). Lisu villages are usually in the mountains at about 1000m.

Homes are built on the ground, and consist mostly of bamboo and grass.

Ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions of northern Thailand are often called "hill tribes", or in Thai vernacular, chao khao (mountain people). Each hill tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dress and spiritual beliefs.

Most are of seminomadic origin, having from Tibet, Myanmar, China and Laos during the past 200 years or so. They are "fourth world" people in that they belong neither to the main aligned powers nor to the developing nations.

Rather, they have crossed and continue to cross national borders, often fleeing opression by other cultures, without regard for recent nationhood.

more info
www.hilltribe.org

Karen Hilltribe
Origin: Myanmar
Present Location: Thailand, Myanmar
Economy: rice, vegetables, livestock
Belief System: animism, Buddhism, Christianity, depending on the group

Clutural Characteristics: Thickly woven V-neck tunics of various colours. Kinship is matrilineal and marriage is monogamous.

They tend to live in lowland valleys and practise crop rotation rather than swidden agriculture. Karen homes are built on low stilts or posts, with the roofs swooping quite low.

after eating, we did some games

each seat was assigned and you had an attendent walk you to your seat, the pillows and blankets and socks were all in a neat cloth bag

we got relaxed into our seats watching the previews and all of a sudden pictures with the king came on with music and you had to stand, we didn't have time to get out of the chairs with the remote on the chairs so we all just kinda fell out of the chairs to stand up

The modest hero of Bangkok's holy temples, Wat Pho features a host of superlatives: the largest reclining Buddha and the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand.

The Vihara of the Reclining Buddha or Phra Buddhasaiyas (Viharn Phranorn), the building is constructed for containing the important Buddha image, the Reclining Buddha.

King Rama III told his nobleman, Krom Muen Pumintarapakdi (Prince Laddawan), the head of department of the Ten Crafts as a construction team leader.

After having noulded the image of the Reclining Buddha, the team continued with the hall.The image was made of stuccoed bricks gilded with gold leaves.

This statue is 46 metres long, with the dimensions at the face of 15 metres high and at each foot of 3 metres high and 5 metres long.

The soles of the statue's feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl showing the 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha. This is the largest and most beautiful piece of fine arts of the Buddha image in a reclining position found in Thailand.

The mother of pearl inlay at the feet of the image is of Thai-Chinese style, as indicated by 108 auspicious signs portraying natural scenes of both Indian and Chinese influences.

The towering prang with its four smaller siblings was started by Rama II in the early part of the 19th century, and completed by his successor Rama III. The temple in which the prang sits is actually much older. It dates from the Ayuthaya period. During King Taksin's reign, just before the founding of Bangkok, the temple served as his palace.

The prang is not only in its design, which is a blend of Khmer and Thai styles, but also in decoration. Over the brick core, a layer of plaster was applied and then decorated with bits of Chinese porcelain and glazed ceramic tiles.

Using porcelain from China isn't as extravagant as it might sound. In the early days of Bangkok, Chinese trading ships calling on the Siamese capital used tons of porcelain as ballast. The temple is just an early example of the Thai approach to "recycling."

is museum-quality preservation of Thai residential architecture and South-east Asian art. Another hook is the home's former owner, Jim Thompson, a compelling character who created an international appetite for Thai silk.

Born in Delaware in 1906, Thompson was a New York architect who briefly served in the Office of Stategic Services (forerunner of the CIA) in Thailand during WWII. Following the war he found NY to tame and so returned to Bangkok.

Thai silk caught his connoisseur's eye, he sent samples to fashion houses in Milian, London and Paris, gradually building a steady worldwide clientele.

off to train station at 6pm, train to leave at 7:15 pm and supposed to arrive at 6:40am next day (but always late).

2 hr truck ride to Khao Sok National Park

house # 7 for 2 nights and a long walk to the room, especially at night with no lights up and down trails