English teachers? We don't need no stinkin' English teachers!

Gus took a couple pictures at the laundromat the other day. Why, you ask, would someone take pictures at a laundromat? Well, here's why:

This sign is on the wall of the laundromat.
I particularly love the last bullet point!

A copy of this sign is taped to the top of each of the dryers.
And no, the dryers are not broken.

Mid-terms are over, so there are just 3 weeks of class left in this term.

Friday evening we went to the Chiang Mai Zoo Night Safari! We saw lions and tigers and bears. (We really did.) And we saw zebras, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, wildebeasts, lots of varieties of deer, camels, fox, wolves, crocodiles, and others. Because it was at night, though, we did not get any pictures. Except for this one:

It's a baby puma!!!
(He was growling at me the whole time!)

There's nothing else exciting planned for this week. Just teaching, grading, watching movies on our laptop, and eating at PunPun next door.

Border run

On Saturday we had to get our "permission to stay" visa stamps renewed. Rather than making a boring trek to the immigration office, we took a one-day trip to Myanmar! Along the way, the tour we went with visited Chiang Saen, the Golden Triangle, Mae Sai, and two hill tribe villages. Here are some pictures. (Click for a larger view.)

A very old temple in Chiang Saen

A bit of history about the temple

The temple grounds

The interior of the open-air temple

Gus and a very large tree!

After Chiang Saen, we stopped for a bit at the Golden Triangle, so named for all the gold that changed hands there during the hight of the opium trade. The "triangle" part of the name comes from the fact that the river there separates three countries: Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.

Standing in Thailand,
looking across the river to Myanmar (Burma) on the far left,
and Laos directly across the water.

A boat dock in Thailand, with Laos across the river.
Boats such as the one in the picture
offer tours of the river, landing briefly in Myanmar and Laos.

After the Golden Triangle, we stopped for 30 minutes at the border town of Mae Sai. There, we crossed oh-so-briefly into Myanmar, and then walked back into Thailand to get our new visa stamps.

Welcome to Burma.

Once we had our visa issues resolved, our tour took us to an Akha hill-tribe village. Here are scenes from the village:

A village path.
To the left is a vendor's stall; many of the villagers sell handmade crafts.
Most of them take the products into a nearby town to sell at the night markets,
but some set up booths in the village, knowing that tours (like ours) will stop by.

A home

Another hut. Notice that they are all raised up on poles.
Chickens and pigs wander around during the day,
and spend the nights under the huts.


Pig!

Another hut, complete with laundry and a chicken!

Walking through the village, I felt like I'd stepped into a different world. Interestingly, they do have electricity in the village now, and although the Akha tribe people are traditionally nomadic, they have settled in northern Thailand and were recently issued official Thai ID cards. The Thai government has also set up schools near the villages.

Doi Suthep

Gus, Sandy, and I went to Doi Suthep on Saturday. Doi Suthep is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Thailand.

Here a just a few of the pictures I took while there.






To see more pictures - many, many more - visit our Picasa Web Album for Doi Suthep. (You can click the pictures in the Web Album to see larger versions, of course.)

Moving on up!

Last week when I was on vacation between terms at school, Gus and I got to move up from the 3rd floor condo the 7th floor condo. Take a look! (As always, click any picture to see a larger version.)

From the entryway,
looking through the dining room
toward the living room

From the dining room you can see both bedrooms

First bedroom

Kitchen

Looking from the other side of the condo,
toward the living room and kitchen

Another view of the living room

Our bedroom, with balcony overlooking the city.

Want another look at the view?

Panoramic picture taken from our balcony.
Big picture.