Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places. - Book of Proverbs

The Himalayas

Doi Inthanon National Park is situated about 100 kilometres South West from Chiang-Mai. In this park is the highest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon which just happens to be a part of the Himalayas range. Today, Lidy and Russell will treck (ever so civilly) along one of the mountains that makes up the Himalayas.

The entrance to Doi Inthanon National Park

At the highest spot (give-or-take ten centimetres)

Nonny explains the meaning of the stupa containing the remains of
King Inthawidhayanon on the mountain top

Lidy "wai's" to pay respect to King Inthawidhayanon

This is really high now

Especially for the skeptics among you. Proof! It is the Himalayas.

The rain forest trail

Walking the trail

Russell gets high in Thailand

On the main road to the summit of Doi Inthanon stand the two Napamaytanidol Chedi. These two massive marble temples were built to honor the 60th birthday's of the King and Queen of Thailand in 1987 and 1992 respectively.

The Queen's Chedi

The King's Chedi - still under construction

As we were leaving the park, we decided to visit Vachiratharn falls where water tumbles down a granite escarpment, creating a misty veil of great beauty. Three people have fallen to their deaths while taking photographs of the waterfall. Lidy and Russell survived - but only just.

At Vachiratharn waterfall

Just a short distance down the main road beyond Vachiratharn falls is the small Karen hill tribe village, Ban Sop Had where we stopped for a while to aquaint ourselves with their fine handicrafts. (No photo's, too busy haggling...)

We rarely hear the inward music, but we're all dancing to it nevertheless. - Jalal-Uddin Rumi

Dinner & Thai Dancing

One of the highlights of our time in Chiang-Mai was our dinner at the Thai Cultural Centre. Here we feasted on delicious Thai foods in a traditional Thai banquet. A banquet designed for four people but, as luck would have it, only us two were at this particular table. Worse, every time we would eat something from the table, a waiter would appear and replenish it!!! The diet is really buggered now!

Russell enjoys another Mai-Tai!

Lidy and Russell have arrived. Let the celebrations begin!

Thai dancing is mostly done with hand gestures and is extremely graceful.

In beautiful synchronicity...

Lidy meets a new friend and, Russell is crowned Prince for the night

The evening ends much too soon with a fireworks display

Why do we pay for psychotherapy when massages cost half as much? - Jason Love

And it came to pass that after much seeking of large shoe sizes (Strike! Thai feet are tiny!) Russell bought a pair of sandals. And he looked upon them and they were good. And he looked upon his protruding toes and counted ten and it was good. And the sun beat upon his toes and reddened them.

And Lidy spake unto Russell and sayeth: "Your sandals are of the finest materials and; your feet fit well within them; But your toenails are a blight upon the road and must be trimmed."

And Russell looked upon his toenails and saw that they were long and; Russell sought out a great little place for a manicure and pedicure:

Saija Massage
'Your home for smiles and relaxation'
69/1 Radchapakinai Road, Prasing/Muang, Chiang-Mai.

Talk about feeling like a king. Two young ladies working on feet and hands, a third supplying cups of herbal tea. Heaven.

The Manicure, Pedicure, arm and leg workout took three hours and cost 360 Bt. About $Au 12.00 - And yes, I did deliver a decent tip!

"Urbem lateritiam invenit, marmoream reliquit" (He found a city of bricks and left a city of marble) - Augustus Caesar

RIVER CRUISE TO THE ANCIENT CITY OF
WIANG GOOM GAAM

Today, we visit the ancient, fortified township of Wiang Goom Gaam. Just a short cruise down the Mai Ping river and a relaxing horse and buggy ride to explore these long-lost ruins, recently uncovered by archeologists. Incongruous as it might seem, Wiang Goom Gaam has lain below the sands of modern Chiang-Mai so that today a modern suburb has been built up all around these ancient ruins.

Specialists from the Department of Fine Arts discovered this hidden Lanna treasure when digs around Chiang-Mai were being conducted in 1984. And what a find it has proven to be; so far, 34 ancient sites have been identified and unearthed. Archaeologists are confident that more will follow.

But first, our boat and boatman awaits. Because the ancient city is not well publicised, not many tourists wish to go there. We were lucky to find a small tour although we were the only occupants of this large riverboat which took us down the Mai Ping like Anthony and Cleopatra in our own Mai Ping Royal barge...

Ready to go - our riverboat awaits

A modern Anthony and Cleopatra on our own Royal barge

The river drifts by as we ply peacefully upstream

Where our Royal footman awaits with our Royal carriage

To take us back in time to the ancient city of Wiang Goom Gaam

Ancient Buddha of Wiang Goom Gaam

The Buddha of Wiang Goom Gaam was unearthed sans head which was lovingly restored by the local villagers. This shrine is now worshipped by many locals from the area.

Our carriage awaits

The modern Wat, built nearby

Our Royal barge awaits

All too soon, we are delivered back to our barge to be transported away to the present time.

2551 awaits!

Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel - Benjamin Disraeli

Lidy spotted it first at 0400 HRS. She couldn't sleep, so was looking out of the hotel window and suddenly said to me (fast asleep): "Russell, quick, look down there. There is an army of cleaners sweeping the streets."

I had of course awoken to this Lidy-ism, and dutifully dragged myself out of bed and over to the darkened window. Looking out, I said: "Yes, they're cleaning the streets. I'm going back to bed."

But they weren't doing it yesterday." she protested. "No," I said, "It's probably the monthly street cleaning. Goodnight."

In due course, I awoke from my disturbed sleep, showered and shaved and, looking forward to another almighty breakfast, boarded the lift to descend to the dining room.

The dining room appeared more crowded than usual and Lidy pointed out the many Thai Army Officers breakfasting this morning. There were a lot. In fact the dining hall contained enough army personnel to start and finish WW III.


It was then I twigged something was up. It wasn't just the army's presence, but the security personnel manning the lifts and doors, police everywhere and a red carpet being attached to the marble floor. At first, I thought it was a gracious gesture from the Thai government to acknowledge our presence and how our prolific spending had helped the Thai economy. I decided to go and thank the hotel manager and tell him he really didn't need to go to all that trouble when a couple of Singha beers would do.

He looked shocked and, while bowing deeply from the waist, told me: "Regretfully, the decorations are not in honour of yourself, but in honour of a Royal visit by HRH Princess Ubolratana Rajakanyathe of Thailand."

Well, a Royal visit eh? Lidy asked one of the security people for the time of the visit and we were told 1600 HRS. We decided to load our camera batteries and so, following some sightseeing and luncheon and, with cameras at the ready, we joined the throng of Thai people waiting patiently for HRH's scheduled arrival at 1600 HRS. 1600 HRS came and went, so we went to ask the chap who had given us the first arrival time and he said HRH was delayed in Bangkok but had boarded the 'plane, was on her way and should be at the hotel by 1800 HRS. It is a big deal when a member of the Thai Royal family visits, drawing a large contingent of army, police, security agencies together. In fact I wager there were more security and uniformed personnel in the hotel than there were guests and hotel staff. A thirty piece brass band had arrived and was tuning up and I took some location shots.


The red carpet had been fixed to the floor and had been covered with canvas so our mortal feet would not soil it prior to HRH stepping onto it. The hotel entrance had been sealed off, leading to some humerous moments when a couple of busloads of tourists rolled up to enter the hotel, with security shepherding them hurriedly through the front doors and along the canvas covered carpet to the reception area.


One lift had been commandeered for HRH's use and had been refurbished during the day with new carpet, bunting and flowers. It was guarded by security and the remaining lifts groaned under the weight of the extra traffic.


Finally, the moment arrived. The lobby was crowded with Thais, Lidy had positioned herself strategically against a column so she could see above the throng (not difficult for a westerner, as Thai's are of a smaller stature). I had taken up a position outside the lobby so I could see HRH arrive. This in itself caused a minor security stir as it appeared I was the only member of the public outside the lobby. One of the security people came over to what appeared to be a rather large Military Police type with shiny helmet and even shinier shoes and the MP then slowly shuffled to be between me and where HRH would alight her car.

About five minutes before HRH arrived, another security person sidled up to me and in the politest way said: "Sir, you may not take photographs of HRH The Princess." "Wot!" I said, "I can take photographs of the Queen of Australia, what is the problem?" "I'm sorry Sir, it is a security risk. No cameras are allowed."

Can you see Lidy against the pillar on the left?

Bugger! after waiting around for two hours, We couldn't even take a photo.

Suddenly a Highway Patrol car screeched into the front of the hotel, red lights flashing and headlights blinking and disgourged a military officer which caused all and sundry waiting on the hotel portal to bow and 'wai'. I assume he had flown in with the Princess and had been rushed from the airport to get to the hotel to ensure all was well before HRH arrived. About five minutes later, the band started up and another police car with flashing red lights arrived and then within another minute or so, HRH's motorcade arrived. She got out of the car and spent a minute with the officials waiting on the hotel portal. My MP moved closer to me and I got the hint and went inside with Lidy. My MP followed and stood nearby.

Suddenly, people were walking quite quickly into the hotel and I tried to pick out the Princess. She could have walked straight past me as she was dressed in black as were (I assume) her ladies-in-waiting. I identified the Princess because as she walked past, the crowd of Thais who had been waiting bowed so deeply their foreheads nearly hit the floor.

And then, just as suddenly, she was gone. Not a wave or a smile, simply a quick twenty steps and into the lift. That was all. No photo's, save this one from her website:

Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always. - Dante Alighieri

ANNIVERSARY - 32 JAREN GETROUWD

The day started off with a lingering breakfast, and after that, a visit by Lidy to her beauty parlour. Russell was not allowed to stray too far from the beauty parlour, so for the time Lidy spent having herself made beautiful, Russell discovered 'IT City', just a mere fifty metres or so along the mall.

When Lidy had finished and had been transformed into Thai-Lidy, we had lunch and returned to our room. To our surprise, our room had been transformed into a flower garden. There were flowers everywhere (yes, even in the toilet), rose petals on the bed and a bowl of fruit (many of which we had not seen, much less eaten before)

Hotel staff surprised us on our wedding anniversary with rose petals strewn on the bed

The anniversary fruit

That night, Russell had prepared a special anniversary dinner for Lidy. They were to go to the leading French restaurant in Thailand, Le Crystal. The Le Crystal restaurant is where the Royal family of Thailand dine when in Chiang-Mai and is scenically located on the banks of the beautiful Mai Ping river.

The Le Crystal restaurant viewed from the gardens by the river Mai Ping

This is the restaurant were The Royal Family have dined when in Chang Mai. It is definately five star quality fine dining nestled, incongruously in amongst houses. While very expensive, it is well worth the expense as it is a dining experience not to be had in many other places in the world.

The Le Crystal Trio - Great dinner music!


Toast: Number 32

Mmmmmm. Dessert!

Russell - force feeding himself - Cheese and fruit (Yummmmm)


Flowers for Lidy over coffee

And then, all too soon, it was over. What a wonderful night we had. I know the experience will live with us in our memories for many years to come and will be an event that will be very difficult to beat in the future.

Oh, and did I mention how unobtrusive the wait staff were? So much so, we omitted to take their photograph.

If there is light in the soul, There will be beauty in the person. - Chinese Proverb

THE TATTOOED LADY!

Lidy found a Beauty Salon and; having decided she liked the look of it and; the girls could speak passable English, booked herself in for a treatment (the treatment.)

At first glance the menu looked all gobble-de-gook.

Luckily, nearby Lidy found a menu in English.

Thai Menu

Unfortunately for Lidy, the hairdressers and beautician were working off a different menu. They could only speak a little (two or three words) English and could only read Thai. (The astute among you will have noticed there is no correlation between the two menus regarding prices. God only knows what relationship there is between the two languages!

Lidy settles in for what she thinks is going to be a facial and eyebrow tint.

Lidy's face is prepared for the treatment

The beautician holds Lidy down so the treatment can begin

Lidy's eyebrows are shaved in preparation for the...

TATTOO!

Lidy now has beautifully tattooed eyebrows Thai style and, will forevermore be known as...

Thai-Lidy