I hit the Phra Mahathat Stupas in the Doi Inthanon National Park around sunset…and it was eerie! When I left there was myself and two other photographers there. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it was quite magical. On first inspection they look like another set of Wats (Temples) that Thailand is quite famous for. However, these are Stupas, which means that some personal object of Buddha’s has been placed inside the structure to make it very special. I have to say that I was in awe, even before I knew that part.
To quote another site:
These two monuments to the king
and queen of Thailand were set up by the Thai Air Force and supported by the
general Thai population. The name for the king’s stupa “Napamethaneedon” means
“the stupa that houses the great Buddhist relics”. The name for the Queen’s
stupa “Napaponphumsiri” means “divine power from the high sky to the earth”. The
king’s stupa was built as a dedication to honour him, while the queen’s stupa
was built later to commemorate her birthday.
Doi Inthanon Mountain is the highest mountain in Thailand at 2,565 meters above sea level and is part of the Doi Inthanon National Park. It was very nice and cool up there and a real shock to come back down to the heat of the lower elevations! This is the ‘hot’ season of Thailand, but the nights are cool in Chiang Mai, so it’s very pleasant. Perfect, really!
From the jungles of Northern Thailand, here’s another video I’ve titled Motorcycle Diary I…
It’s a personal interest piece of me sitting on my Supercool Honda Phantom motorcycle (all 200cc’s of mean machine). It’s unedited to add to it’s charm. I took several motorcycle trips on the Phantom from Chiang Mai, Thailand. One up to Doi Inthanon (highest point in Thailand and site of some amazing Stupas), another East of Chiang Mai to Muang Pan and Lampang on the back roads. Another trip took me West of Chiang Mai to Ban Mai Viewpoint took me on some roads that aren’t really roads, they’re carriage tracks through the jungle.
It was all good fun but I discovered I’m not built to ride a motorcycle for a long ways…it’s tough on a old guy!
I’m currently geeking out in a place that if rented monthly is about US$150. It’s half as big as my apartment in Lakewood, CO and has A/C, CableTV and wired Internet in the room. It’s cheap to live here and yes, there are many, many Thai ladies to go out with. I was asked just today if I wanted a girl that was selling me an electronics item. I’m leaving in two days or I would have said ‘yes’. They’re very nice…and they’re not all shy!
Where’s Craig? I’m still in Chiang Mai. I really like this place, it really reminds me of home a lot.
I just got back from a quick trip up to the Golden Triangle where the Mekong and Mae Sai rivers converge. It’s really hard to believe that it was recently a very dangerous place to be. It was magnificent! Thailand has really done a great job of eradicating Opium. I’m very, very impressed.
Where’s Craig going? I’m going to Pai, Thailand to hang out with the hippies! Then it’s off to Cave Lodge for caving and rafting and Mae Hong Son for Karen Hill Tribes!
This video was created by a friend of mine, Michael Friedman, who is also the Dive Instructor that certified me. It stars yours truly, his fiancee’ Jessica and Michael himself. He shot some of the pictures and video and I shot some of it with his underwater digital camera. The three of us went on a Liveaboard diving boat called Queen Scuba. It was an unforgettable trip. We did 14 dives in 4 days…basically just ate and slept and dove. The diving included two night dives, one where getting back on the boat was quite an intense experience (it was too stormy to come pick us up in the dinghy)! I think my favorite thing that I saw was the Leopard Shark. Diving is just something I was born to do.
Posted on March 19, 2006 Categories: Photos, Press.
Alright folks…this blog is an easy way for me to let you guys back home know what I’ve been up to. You are not forgotten, that’s for sure.
I would have done this long ago, but I was working on a Flash site that would have made me the coolest cat in town. Unfortnately it crashed and since my tool has no debugging features, I simply let it go. I may work more on it later, but for now-this is it! Hope everyone is well and happy.
I am having a great time in Northern Thailand at the moment. I’m in Chiang Mai and have been for the last 20 days. I can’t seem to leave here. It’s a great place!
Here’s a cool Flash link to all my photos which are now up on Flickr.com…the New Zealand set was taken with a nice Canon SD500. The rest were taken with my Sony HDR-HC1 camcorder. The camcorder does OK, but not great. I apologize for that but it’s the money thought that counts, right? Please feel free to leave comments as your stricken!
I can honestly say that this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It’s not all ‘a bowl full of cherries’ (as my dear dad used to say) all the time, but the world I’ve seen up to this point is full of wonderful people. It’s nice to get to meet some of them and find out just how much we have in common. That simple realization makes the world a much smaller place.
