Winter has finally arrived here in Chiang Mai with daytime temperatures just barely reaching 26 degrees and overnight lows of 13! Not only do we have to close the patio door at night to sleep, we've had to break out our long sleeve tops and even purchase hoodies for walking around in the evening. What we never expected were the low temperatures bringing several inches of snow to our neighborhood. It was so cold, Brenda was accosted by a polar bear no more than 2...

This morning Brenda was out of bed at 2:00 AM preparing for her 4:00 AM start time for the Chiang Mai Marathon. Since I was only running the half marathon that started at 5:00 AM, I got to sleep in until 2:30. The start times are early to ensure everyone finishes before it gets too hot and before there's too much traffic on the race route. After we showered and fueled up, we walked the 2.5 kms to the start line at the 3 Kings Monument in the middle of the old ci...

Friday night I went to the Chiang Mai Jazz Festival, primarily to see one of my guitar heroes, Martin Taylor. Strangely, it was held at the Promenada Resort Mall, a huge ultramodern shopping mall about 14 kilometers outside the old city. Fortunately, shuttle buses from the major hotels run hourly, otherwise it would have been a really long walk for me. When I entered the concert site, I was amazed to see mats laid out directly in front of the stage. On the mats ...

Sunday morning, 6:00 AM, Roch and Brenda decide that today the early bird will catch the worm. We leap from bed, get dressed and head out into the brisk 19 degree morn. After a short soongthaew ride, we arrive at our destination, the Muang Mai market. This is our first trip here at this time of day and we find the landscape to be quite different from our other visits. We first notice that all the vendor's stalls are filled to the brim with produce. Next, although...

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunter-Gatherers says: "Hunting and gathering was humanity's first and most successful adaptation, occupying at least 90 percent of human history. Until 12,000 years ago, all humans lived this way." As have Roch and Brenda for the last 30 days. The markets in Southeast Asia have been our primary and most successful venues for our daily foraging routine. We have scoured Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne and Chiang Mai for the freshest, cheap...