Happy Birthday, Mom!
By Mike and Linda

Location: Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand
Date: July 10, 2000

Hello Everyone,

We have settled into the easy backpacker lifestyle of Chiang Mai. Traveling here is about as far from our adventures in Myanmar as possible. Chiang Mai is the northern capitol of the country and quite popular on the foreign travel circuit. There are also lots of families traveling here, which is different to see, we forgot it was summer vacation. Western restaurants and Internet cafes are plentiful. It is nice to eat Italian food for a change, but I will be ready to move further north tomorrow.

The city, though full of foreigners (many of which live here permanently — some of which never went home after the Vietnam war), has a lot of culture, wonderful shopping and friendly locals. Mike spent yesterday learning how to cook Indian food (I got to taste his work and am excited for meals at home). Today he is learning how to cook traditional Thai food, I will stop in for lunch after I send this message. I am also hoping he will learn the art of Thai massage. After that I will have the perfect husband :-)

Other than attending Thai cooking schools, tourists fill their days with hill tribe trekking, bamboo rafting and elephant rides. Not for me, though lots of tourists seem to enjoy these things.

Between here and Bangkok we spent 4 days touring on bicycle the ancient cities of Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and full of magnificent ruins (dating back to the 13th century) and history. Many of the ruins are Khmer style prangs, similar to what we will see at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The Thai government has done a great job with the preservation of the sites, and they are definitely worth a visit.

We've been taking Thailand's fast, efficient and cheap train service. Amazing and perfect for travel throughout the country. If you are planning a trip here, this is the way to go.

Tomorrow we visit the village of Pai, then we go further north into the Golden Triangle area (area between Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, known for it's Opium plants), before crossing into Laos at Huay Xai and traveling by riverboat down the Mekong River. We have about a week left here in Northern Thailand, and plan to enjoy some day hikes to non touristy small town villages.

A special birthday wish today to my mom, Adrienne. She has made our travel over these last 13 months possible, and for that we will always be thankful. The hardest part about being gone, other than missing our friends and family, is dealing with the bills, mail, taxes and transfers between financial accounts. Lucky for us, she has done it all! Happy Birthday Mom. We love you and miss you!

Book recommendation:
Mike and I both enjoyed "Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China", by Jung Chang — amazing, true story about life in China. It is over 700 pages, but quite easy and quick to read. Probably one of the most important books I've read this trip.

Well I am off to try Mike's cooking. Keep your updates coming, we really enjoy hearing about life at home.

Love,

Linda and Mike

Current Travel Itenerary
Northern Thailand Thru July 17
July 17-August 8 Laos
August 8-September 7 Vietnam
Sept 7-Sept 17 Cambodia
Sept 18 Taipei, Taiwan
Sept 21 Return to San Francisco

Read More of Mike and Linda's Adventures