No sooner had I returned from the United States, then I found myself on a “very Thai” trip up to Lampang province in the north of Thailand.  Traveling with my teaching colleagues and Ken (Tod and Markus were unable to make it), we rented a 10-person van and set off Thursday evening about 7:30 for the ten-hour drive north.  I had originally been told it would be a 15- to 17-hour drive so you can imagine how happy I was that it came in shy of that.

The trip was “very Thai” in that I think Thais generally like the idea of going on holiday in a group, particularly in a setting where they will get to spend a lot of time with the rest of the group.  The idea of eight adults piling into a van for twenty hours of road time over the course of a two-and-a-half day journey – not to count the road time spent seeing the sights once we arrived – was undoubtedly an exciting one.

Contrast this to my trip six years ago to Italy with my mother, sister and brother-in-law.  Despite spending two weeks together, the days and activities will arranged so that there was time for people to pair off differently depending upon activities and interests, as well as time for people to “drop out” and be on their own for a while if they chose to.  This came close to my ideal of a vacation – all that was missing was an afternoon on a beach, and having Tawn there, too.

Left – Ajarn Yai hands some food to Ken during a mid-trip stop for dinner, about midnight in Nakhon Sawan province.

These passenger vans are great for many things, but sleeping on an overnight drive is not one of them.  Compound this with a touch of jet lag – I had arrived less than 48 hours earlier – and when we pulled into the yard of Ajarn Yai’s former boss’ house on the outskirts of Lampang at 5:30 the next morning, I was completely wiped out.

Some twenty minutes were spent sorting out sleeping arrangements that resulted in Ken and I sharing a room, he on a futon on the floor and I on a similarly-hard futon on a bed frame.  (Very generous of Ken to insist on taking the floor; a favor I hopefully repaid two days later.)  Finally getting to sleep about 6:00, I was under the impression that we would be able to get at least a few hours of sleep before we started out touring.

Ajarn Yai and the teachers freshened up and then sat around the outdoor table just below my bedroom window and caught up with Khun Prasong, her friend and former boss.  At 7:00 Ajarn Yai came upstairs to wake us up because they had already eaten breakfast and we needed to hurry or she would lose face to Khun Prasong since her farang guests didn’t want to eat the food. 

Above: Khruu Somsri, Ajarn Yai Phitsamai, Khun Prasong and his wife, Khruu Darunee, Khruu Aschara, and Khruu Somchai have breakfast in the outdoor breezeway of Khun Prasong’s house.

The breakfast was really good, khao tom, a watery boiled rice that is served with condiments.  In every respect a very typical Thai breakfast.  As the sun rose, Khruu Somchai, Khun Prasong, Ken and I walked through dozens of fruit trees on this 5-rai* plot, to the fish pond to feed the fish.

Left: Smoke from forest fires and land clearning gave us vibrantly colored sunrises and sunsets.

Our van driver, who already seemed a bit tired to me on our drive up, jumped into the front right-hand seat and guided us all over the province to see a variety of sights.  These included an obscure hilltop temple that is well outside the nearest village, has only four monks, and features an obviously-old chedi along with a half-built hall that contains a reclining Buddha made out of wicker. 

The temple is interesting from the standpoint of being very different from most temples I’ve seen.  At the same time, nobody seemed aware of any historical significance of the temple, so I had the sense that I was unable to fully appreciate it because of some missing context. 

Right: Wicker reclining Buddha in a decidedly industrial wihan (worship hall).

The concrete thep (Buddhist angels) were very interesting, as was a small pool of water lilies that had a styrofoam float in it on which was a small Buddha image with a naga (mythical 7- or 9-headed serpent) behind it.

Top left: Detail of a Thai thep guarding the temple’s chedi.  Top right: Posing with another thep on a bench overlooking the rice fields of Lampang province, many of which are now dry.  Lower: Detail of a foil-covered styrofoam float in a small pond of water lilies.

Following that we went to a waterfall.  The north has been suffering from a lack of rain the last few months, after having very heavy flooding early in the rainy season.  Because of this, the water was falling with less grandeur than usual, but I could see very easily where the volume usually was and it was certainly impressive.  On the bank of a pool there was a group of Lycaenid butterflies called the Common Hedge-blue Lycaeninae, all landing in the same area.  Crawling up very slowly, I was able to get this picture of them before they all flew away.

Top: Small gathering of butterflies on the bank of the river.  Lower left: Khun Prasong, Khruu Somsri, Ajarn Yai, and Khruu Somchai wait in the shade of a tree.  Lower right: I wait on the bank of the river.

After a lunch of khao soy, the noodles with curry soup that are famous in this region, we went into the province’s eponymous capital city and visited the Indra Ceramic factory outlet, home of the country’s best-known commercial ceramics producer.  Their rooster-emblazoned bowls are found in gwuaytiaw shops across the Kingdom. 

While I didn’t buy anything, I had some fun taking pictures of a pyramid of teapots, as well as a huge soup bowl into which you can climb.

Right: A large bowl of Chris soup.  Below: A series on the teapot pyramid at Indra Ceramics.

After returning to Khun Prasong’s house we enjoyed an amazing dinner that his wife had prepared including several northern-style specialties.  By 8:30, Ken and I were both in bed and fast asleep.  I can remember getting into bed but not more than ten seconds after that.

Sunday morning the troops were up and at ’em well before sunrise, planning on setting out for the return trip.  That’s right: drive ten hours up, stay twenty-four hours, then head back.  I think they had a few sights to see on the way back.  Ken had decided in advance to take the bus over to Chiang Mai to visit a friend and since I wanted to get more than twenty-four hours out of my ten hour investment, I decided to bus over with him.

Two bus, not air-conditioned but very well ventilated, was bumpy but comfortable enough.  We arrived in Chiang Mai only two-and-half hours later after being dropped off at the Lampang station by a tremendously accommodating Khun Prasong.  He made sure we got to the correct bus and was going to wait until it left but we finally convinced him we were okay and he could go home.

Left: At the Lampang bus terminal, about to board one of Greenbus Thailand’s less modern vehicles.  A series of articles in the papers this week talk about the high number of bus and van accidents and what should be done to solve the problem.  One of the suggestions: have some national standards and certification for drivers.  I’m amazed that there’s even a moment’s worth of discussion – it needs to be done, now.

Arriving by 10:30 we checked in at the hotel, the Lanna Palace, and then went walking to the old city.  The weather has been tremendously hot – 41 C / 106 F – and Thai meteorologists are predicting the hottest summer in thirty years.  It is supposed to end by mid-May, so only six or seven more weeks before rainy season arrives.  The old city in Chiang Mai is surrounded by a deep moat and with the hot weather it was the coolest spot to be. 

Many local children were playing in the moat, jumping from trees and, in the case of one teenager who was showing off for my camera, off the bastion of the old city wall.

Upper left and Lower right: Can you spot the boys about to land in the water?

We met Ken’s friend Gansit in the afternoon.  He had two friends from Khrungthep who were in town to complete some sort of vocational examination, so we were to meet up with them later.  In the meantime, we ate lunch, walked two or three kilometers to a market where we met his sister and brother-in-law, who drove us back to their house in the Chiang Mai suburbs.

Right: A beautiful flower I saw along the three-kilometer walk.

Their poodle had just given birth a week before to a litter and so the children were enjoying playing with the puppies, which looked like little stuffed brown sheep.  I was talking with the children and the 15-year old daughter speaks English fairly well.  The 10-year old son was too shy and so we just stuck with Thai.

Afterwards – and I realize this seems like a long story but it was a very full day – Gansit borrowed his brother-in-law’s truck and we drove out to Gansit’s new house even further out on the suburbs.  On a full rai, the house is complete but hasn’t been furnished yet and the landscaping has just been started.  While he is waiting to complete those things, he is living in a small two-room dormitory at his job at the Ministry of Labor.  This seems to be a pretty common housing arrangement for government employees.  In this case, though, another sister, brother-in-law and two children are living with him!

Paying back Ken’s generosity to sleep on the floor in Lampang, I spent an hour helping water the four-dozen trees that Gansit has planted.  This involved filling the large watering can at the tap then walking in the dark across the property to the tree, watering it, and then going back to the tap.  Ken manned the tap while Gansit and I traipsed back and forth.  I later suggested to Ken that a long hose might be a very practical housewarming gift for him to buy Gansit.

Left: Smoky sunset over Doi Suthep and a local wet market.

Returning to Gansit’s dormitory, we met up with his two friends, he reshened up and then we drove his father back to his sister’s house.  When we arrived, the family was just finished dinner and they invited us to eat.  While low key, it was a really good experience because I don’t often get to have dinner with a household of Thais whom I don’t know and don’t have any direct connection to.

In fact (Khruu Kitiya take note), while I spoke almost no Thai while in the United States, I think in the past 72 hours I’ve spoken more than I have in any consecutive 72 hours since I moved to Thailand.  Especially since Ken’s friend does not speak a lot of English, making me wonder how they’ve managed a 16-year friendship.  So I’m seeing my fluency and competence increase rapidly.

Sunday morning Ken and I headed out to a particular market to pick up some northern-style pork sausage that Tawn greatly enjoys.  It wasn’t too much of an adventure, but a little bit of one.  Within an hour we had two kilos of sausage, a bag of green chili sauce, and a bag of fried pork rinds.

Instead of flying back at 6:00 pm as I had originally planned, I headed to the airport early and was able to get on the 12:35 flight.  When I asked the agent if I could switch to the earlier flight, her only concern was that my special request meal (Hindu vegetarian, just for the fun of it) wouldn’t be available for me.  That’s right, the 50-minute flight includes a light meal service.  In this case, they were boxes with a shrimp salad, blueberry cream puff, tangerine juice, and water.  Coffee and tea were served, too.  In 50 minutes!  How far do I have to fly in the United States to get a meal?  Well, at least three hours and then it is only a snack box with junk food and I have to pay separately for it.  Yep, I think I’ll be staying here, thanks.

My flight back was to Don Mueang, which reopened last Sunday for “non-connecting” domestic flights.  This means that half of THAI Airways’ scheduled flights between Chiang Mai and Khrungthep fly into Don Mueang and the other half into Suvarnabhumi.  Yes, there is room for confusion.  Below: The girl in the row ahead of me stares, transfixed, out the window.  Then she realizes her picture is being taken and looks back.

Arriving in Khrungthep just before 2:00, I decided to try THAI Airways’ free shuttle bus to the MRT Subway station at Lat Prao.  A helpful agent told me just to have a seat in the arrivals area and he would get me when the bus arrived.  After about fifteen minutes, it pulled up and I turned out to be the only passenger using this service.  The driver did not seem surprised, so maybe the City Air Terminal idea hasn’t quite caught on.

Above: Touching down again at Don Mueang, with the mid-field air force golf couse still being used.

THAI has established a terminal at the Lat Prao station enabling customers to check in for flights directly at the subway station.  This was designed with two purposes in mind:

First, to help ease some congestion for passengers since the transportation resources to the old airport were shifter largely to the new one once Suvarnabhumi opened last September.

Second, to begin “conditioning” passengers in advance of the new airport express train opening in late 2008.  There will be a City Air Terminal located just up the street from our apartment at the Petchaburi MRT Subway station.  From there, like in Hong Kong, you should be able to check in for flights as well as drop your checked luggage off.

There’s one minor inconvenience with the City Air Terminals being connected to subway stations: the subway is conducting bag checks when you enter the stations and they don’t usually have any table or other space set up to make it convenient to open your suitcases for the guards.  You end up doing this on the footpath in front of the escalators, holding up the line.

Worse yet, all you do is just open the suitcase; the guard doesn’t actually inspect it.

Still, it represents the first step towards a more comprehensive linking of airports and transit systems, so I’m happy to support it.

*A rai, a Thai unit of land measurement, is equivalent to 1600 square meters or 0.395 acres.  In this case, Khun Prasong’s property is just shy of 2 acres.