| Mom, Dad, Bro - Chiang Mai Visit October '08 |
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| Dad, Mom, Ian upstairs at Ginny Place. |
| The real Ginny at the front desk. |
| Out on my garden terrace & open-air bathroom. |
| First arrival at the "3Sis" boutique hotel. Paul is explaining the phone technology. |
| Our first evening together, at the rooftop restaurant of the Pornping Tower, trying out some northern Thai treats. Big city views and good-vibe music here. |
| Three Taylor dudes launching a "Kom-Fie" paper balloon. |
| With Dad at the evening food market by the Ping River. |
| In the meat market, check out the pig heads >> |
| Day-2 in Chiang Mai we passed this urban elephant. |
| Practicing for "Loy Krathong" festival which this year is November 12th. More about the festival here. |
| Long staircase (about 310 steps) up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. |
| "Buy one photo 10 baht". Mom with two Hmong girls. |
| Tee and Mom ringing the good luck bells. |
| Paul, Mom (and Mom) |
| Two photogenic ladies at Doi Suthep! |
| Tee hard at work churning out tasty bbq food. |
| Two charming Hmong girls at a local village. |
| The must-have wine cabinet at Ban Tawai village. |
| The huge seated Buddha at Wat Doi Kham |
| Doi Kham ("gold mountain") lies on the SW edge of the city and is a lesser-known hilltop temple. Good place to relax with nice views out front. |
| Inside one of the dozens of Wat compounds in the old city. |
| Sunday rainy Sunday. First Tesco and now Airport Central Plaza shopping center. |
| The rain broke just long enough for us to walk through the crowded market and take pics in front of the Three Kings monument. Tee, Mom, and our good friend Kelly. |
| Inside Doi Inthanon National Park at the Royal Project gardens. |
| The Vachirathan waterfall was at full-throttle. |
| Handsome young man, Audi smiling for the camera. |
| Extremely foggy misty day near the summit of Doi Inthanon. We could just make out the shapes of the King and Queen pagodas. Pretty chilly too. |
| Like the sign says, Highest spot in Thailand, 2565 meters (about 8500 feet). |
| Another stop by a raging river near the park entrance. |
| Tuesday morning we drove north of Chiang Mai to the "Tiger Kingdom". Since the price has recently tripled we decided not to go in. Anyway it gave us time for a Tee family visit. |
| Tee and her brother "Woa" at his house. |
| With Tee's parents and Grandmother at their house. The "real" Thailand. |
| Quick stop in the countryside near Tee's village. |
| Nearly ripe technicolor-green rice fields were all around. |
| A real first; Mom and Dad on an elephant. |
| It was a rough and muddy ride. At least now we have the pictures! |
| One-hour elephant show was pretty entertaining. The elephants seem happy enough. |
| Quick stop at Huay Tung Tao - a lakeside spot that Tee and Audi and I enjoy. |
| The "too many motorcycles" shot at Tesco. |
| At the Kamtieng flower markets on the edge of town. |
| We had one evening in the Night Bazaar and had some good food in the Anusarn market, and saw some traditional performances. |
| Wat Chedi Luang, right across from the 3Sis hotel. |
| Wat Suan Dok to the west of the old city was very atmospheric in early evening. |
| After the Riverside dinner cruise we got our last "songthaew" ride home. I'm hanging out the back holding on by my pinky finger. Mom does not approve =) |
| That was our seven days together in Chiang Mai. Time to head for a quick visit in Bangkok before they fly early Saturday morning. |
| Air Asia - cheap and no-frills. I sat next to Mom so she could hold my hand. |
| A classic moment; Mom and Dad on Khao San Road. |
| We stayed nearby on Soi Rambutri, just far enough away from the craziness. |
| First stop of the day - Phu Khao Tong (The Golden Mount). |
| We met up for lunch with friends Steve and Chris. Good meal, good people. Who's that kid in the KISS t-shirt? |
| Lunch was at a restaurant called "Cabbages & Condoms" - where a % of all proceeds go to AIDS research and prevention. Lots of funny photo opportunities. |
| We had time for a long walk through Lumphini Park before heading up the river by boat to the guesthouse. The day flew by pretty fast. |
| Before you know it, time to say goodbye. It was a 6:40am departure so here we are at about 4:30am, obviously pretty tired. Tee and I grabbed a flight back to Chiang Mai the same morning. Great times together which we'll always remember! |
| Sawatdee Khap! Chock Dee Khap! Miss you love you. -Ian & Tee =) |
| We had seven days together October 23-30 then one quick day in Bangkok. Just had to document this momentous occassion! |
| The elephants kicked soccer balls, twirled hoola hoops and painted pictures. |
| Along this usually crowded wall I asked everyone politely to MOVE for this shot. |