More photos, Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second-largest city and is known as the capital of the North. It's about 450 miles north of Bangkok, and is the place to go for anything outdoorsy. I did a one-day trek with hiking, whitewater rafting and bamboo rafting. Then I spent my next day there wandering around looking at temples. It's also the place where I got a traditional Thai massage -- at the Chiang Mai Women's Prison.

Riding on Hanoi the elephant. She's 10 years old and lives in the hills in Chiang Mai province, outside of the city. They seem to treat her OK. Elephants in Thailand have tough lives because at one point in history they were really useful to people, so people breeded them a lot. Then as automobiles became affordable the elephant as a tool became obsolete. So in some of the country, they've been reduced the beggars -- people ride around on elephants with blinking lights tied to their tails and charge tourists for feeding them bananas. It's all pretty sad. But in Lampang Province, which neighbors Chiang Mai, there's an elephant sanctuary where they have an elephant hospital and take really good care of the elephants.

The hike in Chiang Mai was more challenging than I'd anticipated given that half the participants were middle-aged. But seriously, they fell less than I did.

We hiked to this waterfall and they said we could swim if we wanted. Most of us didn't, but a 50-year-old Chinese man named Mr. Woo stripped down to his panties (yup, they were panties) and stood under it. I think I'm the only one who noticed when the panties nearly came off from the force of the waterfall. I was definitely the only one staring in awe.

We crossed this river in a weird cage thing that zipped across a rope. It was all very odd.

The North of Thailand is the home to six different hilltribes, which have their own languages and support themselves by selling simple handicrafts. I'm unclear about who buys their handicrafts since their villages are all so far out of the way from everything, but they seem to be happy enough.

Hilltribe, Chiang Mai province

Members of the hilltribe in front of their shops

The city of Chiang Mai is huge and very Westernized. It's supposedly also easier to get around than Bangkok because it's actually planned, but that didn't stop me from being perpetually lost.

Wat Chiang Mun, which is thought to be the oldest temple in the city. It has a stone slab engraved in 1581 and bears the earliest known reference to the city's 1296 founding. The guy who took my picture seemed to be the temple's keeper of sorts, just standing there and making sure visitors respected the Buddha and such. He liked me immediately when he saw me drop some money into the donation box, and I figured I'd capitalize by asking him to take my picture.

Inside Wat Chiang Mun

I'm not sure that Wat Phan Tao has any remarkable stories to its name, but it's kind of cool looking, I think.

Wat Phan Tao

Inside Wat Phan Tao

The Three Kings Monument commemorates the three most revered northern kings -- Ngam Meuang, Mengrai and Khun Ramkhamhaeng. You can see a guy kneeling in front of the monument -- locals often bring offerings here in hopes that the spirits of the kings will bring them good luck.

Wat Chedi Luang is a temple complex that is partially in ruins and partially still in use. It's also the site of a monk school, and they encourage English-speaking visitors to stop by and talk to the monks so they can practice their English.

Wat Chedi Luang

Talking to monks at Wat Chedi Luang. They're all from Laos and around 21 years old. The one on the left wants to go back to Laos and become a journalist who writes about Buddhism. The one on the right wants to return to Laos and teach English. The one taking the picture wanted to know if I lived near Las Vegas. When I finally understood what he was asking me and said, "Las Vegas? You're asking about Las Vegas?" they all repeated "Las Vegas" under their breath, seemingly committing it to memory for some big monk hurrah... or something.


Next to the Chiang Mai Women's Prison is a prison shop, where you can buy little crafts made by the prisoners or get a traditional Thai massage. All the money raised goes toward the prisoners after they get out. I got a massage, and the girl doing it seemed really nice. She was shy and was very flattered when I complimented her on the massage. The women doing the massages are due to be released within six months, according to Lonely Planet. I'm not sure what their crimes are, but I haven't heard much about violent female criminals in Northern Thailand...

The Chiang Mai Women's Prison (the massage shop is just down the road)