From the 20th of November through the 28th I went to ChIangmai, Thailand. The actual plan was for my friend Vickie and I to head to Laos. Unfortunately she got sick and was unable to go. However since my time was up to renew my visa, I decided to go to Chiangmai by myself. It seemed and actually was a more readily accessible place to explore alone at my age.

It turned out to be a beautiful trip for very little money! In Chiangmai I stayed at the nice, comfortable YMCA Hotel for $13 a night... how can you beat that? I visited all the various buddhist temples (wats) and took a class in thai cooking! Then I visited with the elephants and was impressed with their painting. It is unbelievable how they can manage that with their tusks and without any guidance from the attendant. The only thing he did was to dunk the brushes in the paint. Unfortunately it was hard to take good pictures of this activity but at least you can see the painting of the youngest member of the team on the video. Frankly I do not know how they manage. If you are interested you can see a professional presentation on YouTube ()

The last excursion was north to the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet and which used to be the famous opium growing and trading place during colonial times. (Now???)
There we took a short trip on the Mekong and I learned that one can take a three day boat trip to Luang Prabang in Laos. This sounds much more attractive than flying there and I will keep it in mind for that still planned trip to Laos.

Now I am back on the boat and ready to make my popular Xmas cookies and prepare for the holidays. To you all, a very happy holiday season.

PS: If you are interested in elephant painting at Maesa, please check this site out.... it is amazing! Copy the address and put into your search engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk&list=PL935781380B975EB8&index=1