(Note: If you click on a photo or the album, it will open and allow you to view all the photos in that album).

Sà wàt dee khrap (the Thai greeting) from Chiang Mai, Thailand. The largest city in Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai means "new city" and was so named because it became the new capital of the Lan Na kingdom when it was founded in 1296.

The Off the Face Journey of Epic Proportions began with a 43 hour jaunt, filled with the luxuries of business class lounges, lie flat beds on wide body 777 planes on all 3 flights, and extensive menu and liquor offerings throughout the day. The trip over here also came with ahhhhh the joys of a 14 hour time change, lack of sleep (despite being very comfortable and treated well), an 11 hour layover in Vienna, and stops in and out of airport security and immigration. I find the airport security process to be easier and immigration officers to be more pleasant than back at home, so not too big of a deal.

We went by train and foot to get around Vienna, just to get a small taste of the city. No major plans, as we only had about 7 hours or so, leaving time to get back early for the long flight to Bangkok. We figured it out well enough, and the train system to/from city center (Wien Mitte) was quite easy to manage. After backtracking a couple times, we had a fulfilling lunch and beers, and found a special Robotics exhibit on opening day at the Mak Museum, before making it back to the comforts of the airport lounge.

After each taking our Ambien pills to help us get a few hours of zzz's on the long flight, I was anxious to see who was going to get into the deep sleep first, as I had a little prank up my sleeve. Haley made it to Ambien "La La Land" first (which I watched on the flight, good movie !), and Connor laughed as I proceeded to try to put a silly head piece and stick-on moustache on her - but she managed to have enough consciousness to mumble and swat it away, and thus ruined a good photo opportunity. (see photo album) Oh well, plenty of time for more.

Haley and Connor had the more natural and sensible inclination to rest upon arrival in Chiang Mai, after all, we've been on the go for 43 hours. I, on the other hand, had a new city calling out to me to get explored, and get lost in.

So, right away, I first gave Haley & Connor some Thai Baht to have in their possession and a few travel briefings, such as "never bring your passport with you, keep it locked in your room", and "always bring a business card from the hotel with the location". Then, doing the exact same dumb thing I did in Malaysia with Haley a couple years ago, I go walking (and walking and walking . . .) and exploring on my own, and violate my own rule and advice -- no address of where my hotel is. Seems like no issue, just tell the tuk tuk/taxi driver where you want to go, right ? "Do as I say, not as I do . . ." Well, there's the huge language barrier, as English might be well understood at the hotel lobby and nicer restaurants, but on the street, it's a "no-go". Nobody has any idea of what I'm saying, and so I keep walking. "Stupid, you just finished telling your daughter what not to do". Well, carry on, keep walking (where, I don't know, as I'm quite disoriented), but at least now, most everyone has cell phones. So, after getting one to let me use it and change the language over from Thai to English, I was able to search online and show him where my hotel is and get me back. As much as I like to plan everything to a "T", there's also that mystique about going to an exciting destination and "getting lost" on purpose.

So hopefully Haley & Connor got their beauty sleep and are invigorated for our first day in Chiang Mai, as there's lots and lots to see and do. Here we go !!!

The 3 Sis Hotel here in Chiang Mai is quite nice, nothing over the top, but clean facilities and a very nice staff. After a nice breakfast, they helped us to organize the activities we want to cover during our few days, before heading to Myanmar.

Our first visit was the Buddhist temple, Wat Chedi Luang Varavihara. An amazing temple for sure. Haley was unable to go into the first sacred temple, as according to the Vedas, they warn the practitioners to keep away from coming in direct contact with menstruating women as menstruation nullifies the magical power. As a result all monks and men who have been following the Vedas set rules prohibiting women from entering sacred space. In Buddhist temples it's not practical to limit only menstruating women, hence the rules extend to limit all women. Sorry, Haley, but I took some pictures to share.

We sat in the temple to observe for a little while, and we were kindly corrected about sitting/kneeling with feet forward, as it's disrespectful to point the feet toward the altar. There is a Buddhist school and university on the temple property, and we spent some time talking to one of the teachers and prior monk. Very nice man, and we learned quite a bit about the Buddhist practices, culture and trends in their society. He was eager to learn about us and our families as well.

From there we headed to Lila Thai Massage. While Haley opted for the relaxing and soothing coconut oil body massage, Connor and I each went for the traditional Thai body massage. After donning the provided Thai massage cotton shirt & pants, the feet were cleansed, and we headed to the room with 5 cushions in one area. For those not familiar with the Thai method, it is nothing like a soothing Swedish massage, and moreso a combination of stretching and contortion. The girls use their body as leverage to stretch and fold you into different oragami-like figures, possibly with some purpose, possibly for their mere entertainment. I say that as they seemed to keep giggling at various times, and don't really know what they were saying. After instructing you to move your arm here, your leg there, hold onto my arm, and then pull your limbs out of your torso, and at the same time ask "are you OK ?" My response I believe was something more like a groan or grunt than an English word. Then even a couple UFC MMA moves were thrown in there, as I looked over and Connor was folded in half with the woman on top, forcing him into submission -- I'm not sure, but I think he tapped out.

Our afternoon was concluded with a Silversmithing class at Wat Sri Suphan. It was just the 3 of us, along with our instructor who taught us a bit of silversmithing techniques, and we each completed our own project to take home with us. It was a little tedious at time, and the instructor jumped in here and there to get us through the tough spots. In the end, we each left with a nice completed project and keepsake.

It's been all friendly people here in Chiang Mai, and a delight thus far. We're resting a little bit before heading back out for an evening of adventure, maybe hit some street markets/food vendors, and some bars and music. And tomorrow is a full day of more excitement, so more to come !

Cheers for now, from Chiang Mai.

Robert, Haley & Connor