From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #6

From the Grounds of the Third Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #3

It's Snow!

While driving in the mountains...

Somewhere around Nango

From the Grounds of the Third Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #2

From the Grounds of the Second Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #4

From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #5

From the Grounds of the Second Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #3

Volcano

Tonight on my way home from band practice (well, after the band practice beers) I noticed that dust was getting in my eyes. As I got near my place I could see that all the parked cars were covered with ash.

These volcanoes are good for a couple of days of laughs, I guess. But, like most things, they eventually become annoying.

From the Grounds of the Second Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #2

Temple Dogs

From the Grounds of the Third Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #1

On a Clear Day You Can See the Volcano

A volcano, Shinmoe Dake, which I think is about 60 kilometers from Miyazaki City, erupted yesterday. There doesn't seem to be much news about this in English, but there's some good info and cool footage here.

Things have been rumbling a bit around here the past couple days. There is no danger at all here in Miyazaki. I'd sure like to take a drive up that way this weekend though...

I took these from the top of my condo.

From the Grounds of the Second Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #1

From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #4

From the Grounds of the Fourth Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #1

Replying to Glenn in the comments of the previous post gave me the urge to jump ahead a bit...

Gong

From the Grounds of the First Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #4

Two Young Monks

Graffiti

From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #3

From the Grounds of the First Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #3

Temple Cat

From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #2

From the Grounds of the First Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #2

From the Back of a Tuk-Tuk #1

From the Grounds of the First Temple I Visited in Chiang Mai #1

Usually when I'm on one of my conference trips I don't have the time or energy to take many photos. Yesterday, however, we rented a tuk-tuk and took a spin around Chiang Mai to check out some of the sights. I snapped a few hundred shots in the space of a few hours, so it's going to take me a while to sort through them all. Also, since I'm not really into travelogue-type writing, I'm not going to waste time boring you with details about temples (the names of which I don't remember) or other places. Post titles will probably be the only informative thing you'll get from me, but I will add that all posted pictures were taken in the city of Chiang Mai itself.

I guess I should also add that I fell in love with Chiang Mai. I quite seriously can imagine myself disappearing from Miyazaki one day, never to be seen again, and appearing in Chiang Mai with a new identity. It won't happen. But I can seriously imagine it.

I'd very highly recommend Chiang Mai (and Thailand more generally--just try to avoid the airport in Bangkok... well, that's probably not realistic; still...) to anyone who's never been to Asia. Seriously.

Anyway, some pics...

Scene

Small Shrine Next to the Sidewalk

Fish Spa (and Free Internet)

Two Dragons, Black and White

Artwork for Sale

Two Dragons

Sitting in the Back of a Tuk-Tuk

I'm in Chiang Mai, Thailand this week. Bar-hopping by tuk-tuk is a blast!

Some drunken reveler...