Peter Nelson’s travels – Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand
by Peter Nelson
We took a bus up to Chiang Mai in the far north of Thailand. Did the usual tour of markets and temples and spiritual sites. And in an amazing coincidence, we ran into Bob, a chap who’d lived with us in the farmhouse in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia, two years earlier. Bob had arranged a boat trip up into the northern jungles, and there was space for two more passengers, so we decided to tag along.
The boat was an interesting shape — very long, but not very wide. As a result, it was quite tippy. As you can see, the river is not only the main road for travel, but also a popular playground for kids.We were going pretty far upriver, and stopped at a couple of villages along the way. Interesting to note the changes in clothing as we progressed further into the jungles. Here the kids are still wearing Western-style clothes.Village #2. Now clothing (when worn at all!) is traditional, as are the village huts.The women are colorfully dressed.