Feb 9, 2002:
Apologies in advance for the load time on this page and the 2nd one. Go get some coffee. I wanted to include some small photos rather than tiny thumbnails so you can get some sense for the scenery along with my witty repartee'. I took these photos while out walking for a few hours. Damn it was hot! And it's only February!
Anyway, here are 19 photos. Few represent photographic splendor; they more focused on bringing you here, than on "oohs and ahhhs". Now "ewww!" — that won't be tolerated.
The "Bangkok
Boot"? On my neighbor's door. Somebody didn't pay
the rent, methinks.
Shared common
areas. Ok it's not an exciting photo...
My pool.
I share it with the other kids tho'.
Where the sheep
safely graze. Actually cows and goats; they were out
earlier in the day. In the middle of a city. This is right outside
the condo building.
Food stalls
like this are set up anywhere and everywhere, every day. Meals
are really cheap but sanitation can be iffy due to lack of
clean water for washing.
This is
a Chiang Mai public bus, aka siiilor (4 wheels) aka songtaow
(two benches). Read about getting around on these things, it's
entertaining. It's a pickup truck with bench seats. No room?
No problem. Stand on the back bumper and hold on tight!
English
language training (and testing ("Test of English as a
Foreign Language —- TOEFL") is all over CM — seen as a
way to a good paying job with a foreign company. It's also
a typical way for foreigners to make a living — albeit not
a rich one: 30-40,000 baht/mo or about $200/week. My rent is
14,000 baht or almost half of that. Plus elec, water and telephone...
Street cleaning,
the old fashioned way. You can't see from this photo, but the
broom has fan-shaped straw of some kind, lashed to a stick.
The bin she sweeps into is a rectangular metal container (that
might have held 5 gallons of cooking oil or something like
that), also lashed to a stick.
All dressed
up and no where to go. It was a good time of day to be napping.
This is a "tuk-tuk". They're fast, but relatively expensive (80c to $1.50 around town) and they tip over relatively easily. I stay clear of them both as passenger and pedestrian.