Chinese New Year Plans!

Last night, Keith said  "I need to go to the dentist.  During Chinese New Year, I think we should fly to Chiang Mai, spend several days exploring, then catch that new Orient Express down to Bangkok and visit that nice lady dentist ABC always recommends."

The only reply to that was "Yes, and we mustn't forget to pick up milk and laundry on the way home."

Gosh, I do love Keith.  It's hardly surprising we've been married so long when this is his idea of taking care of his teeth.

Mind you, I have never heard of Chiang Mai before and have no idea where it is nor even why I'd want to go there but I'm sure, with the help of google and a few Lonely Planet guides down at the local library, I can quickly remedy that.  I'm sure Keith doesn't know anything about it either, except that's it's the starting point of the two day journey down to Bangkok on the newly refurbished 1930s style Orient Express and steam trains are Keith's new big thing.

Me?  Mmmm, yup sure! I like steam trains.

However, my real new big thing, along with sacred caves, is canals. Hearing a lot about them lately and they've really caught my imagination. My Aunt Laura, who's 86 and honestly thought her traveling days were behind her, has recently discovered canals and is raving about them, saying that you just sit there and watch beautiful landscapes pass by, and you get to see all these old and beautiful cities and towns along the canals that are all "places you've only read about in history books." and "once rich, prosperous and important but now lost to history".  So far, she's traveled by river boat through all the canals and rivers from Turkey up to Russia, right across Russia and into Europe proper, and she plans in future to continue her river boat journeys across Europe and end up doing various canal boat tours through the more obscure parts of England. 

Sounds like a plan to you too?  And did you know there's a river boat tour through India's Northern canals, through the areas where they invented Ayurvedic Medicine and Massage, and you get to discover where everything happened and - the bliss of this! - sample all the different therapies.  I keep leaving articles about it all over the house hoping Keith will get the hint, but nothing so far.

But, in the meantime, that's the big plan for next month: Cheing Mai, Orient Express, Bangkok, dentist.

And yes, where I go you go, so - if Keith can make this happen for us and he has let us down a couple of times in the past - within a month, you'll know all about it too.

Later:

Googled Chiang Mai and turns out it's yet another Ancient Thai capital. Thailand seems to have changed capitals often, doesn't it, and I still have others I've been to and not yet posted anything on.

Mmmm, yes. Old capital means you ride elephants around some interesting ruins and take tuk tuks to lots and lots of sodding wats!  I still have five different famous wats posts I've yet to get around to writing up, all in different parts of South East Asia and all very interesting in their own right, I'm sure ... and please don't notice the yawn I'm hiding behind my hand.


I'm obviously going to have to learn more about wats and how they're subtly different from each other in order to find them interesting again, aren't I!  I managed to do that with stupas, so I'm sure I can generate new enthusiasm for wats ... and is that another yawn coming on?

No, I'm just spoiled rotten, aren't I. I'm sure this will be lovely and I'm really looking forward to it.  Although ...  hey, maybe the place will also have lots of sacred caves.  That would be seriously cool. I'm off to the library now to find out.

Later still:

Yes! Yes! Yes!  Lots and lots of sacred caves, most off-limits to tourists, sure, and rightfully so, but there's a whole pile - the Chiang Dao Caves - that even have an organised tour where you get your own tour guides, equipped with lanterns, to take you around and through them. I am now happy again. Ah, the sheer bliss!  

I'm excited!