Quote:
Originally Posted by dreams
Do you have a place already chosen for where you will be living?
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Oh yes... We'll go back to the same area we were living in. Perhaps not the same part of town, but certainly within 5km. It's Chiang Mai, the 'Rose of the North.' It's the last stop on the railroad headed north, just below (beside?) the Burmese border. It's a very modern/ancient city with all the comforts of the 21st century, but all the culture of the Middle Ages. I just tried to find a YouTube to show it, but it's like the story of the 6 Blind Men and the Elephant... There are just soooo many different facets to the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
I never visited Thailand, but I get the feeling that it's a lot like Vietnam was in the late 60s. Stunningly beautiful, but with a level of poverty unimaginable in this country. I'd love to go back one day.
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That sums it up very well. And that poverty is side-by-side with spectacular riches, with the poor catering to the wealthy. The Hill Tribe villages are still filled with bamboo frame huts up on stilts, with woven palm walls, pigs tied up under the huts, and no electricity.
But 2km down the mountain trail is a luxury resort villa, a car rental agency, and a health spa...
Chiang Mai gives us all the modern comforts of home combined with great foods from all over the world, but with less than 15 minutes of driving, being able to return to a pre-modern age where people still cook their food over small fires outside (or under) their houses, plow their fields using water buffaloes for power, and plant their rice by hand... And the best part... everyone is always smiling... The nickname for Thailand is LOS, (The Land Of Smiles.)
Stitchawl