Thailand-Burma-Yunnan Travel History

Burmese history: The most original source

Read the Burmese chronicle, the history of Burma from the beginning of time to about 1700 [link].

Burmese history: The original sourceThe Burmese Chronicle (By U Kala)

Read the Burmese chronicle, the history of Burma from the beginning of time to about 1700 [link].

Khun Kon Waterfalls

Sitting fully submerged in the stream below Khun Kon waterfall.

Slipping down the cool rapids.

Watching my puppy swim for the first time.

Barbecued chicken, the shade, drifting off to sleep.

If you want to relax, take a picnic lunch to Khun Kon waterfalls.

You can walk the one kilometer to the waterfall if you want, but only a 100 metres or so will do for a picnic lunch. We always drive our motorcycle there. It's not Here's the description of the place from one of the best online travel guidebooks in Thailand put together by high school students with a every innovative teacher:

"The Nam Khun Kon Forest Park can be reached by taking Highway #1211 from town. After 18 kilometres turn right and proceed on for another 12 kilometres. Or go along Highway No. 1 ( Chiang Rai-Phayao ) for about 15 kilometres where there is a right turn to proceed further another 17 kilometres, then a 30-minute walk to the waterfall. The highest and most scenic waterfall in Chiang Rai, the Khun Kon is some 70 metes high. Along the route to the site are cool, shady natural surroundings eminently suitable for relaxation and nature walking."
[Link with map, Joel Barlow's Chiang Rai waterfall page, Photos of the stream from someone's photo album]

The Dhammazedi Bell of Yangon, Burma (c. 1476)

One of the largest bells in the world is buried under a river in Yangon, the largest city in Burma.

It is made of copper which was a lot more valuable when this bell was cast as a religious donation in the late 1400's. We use banks nowadays to store our wealth. Back then religiousarchitecture and objects such as this bell was a major storage place for the society's wealth.

The bell has an interesting history. As I've find more information about the bell I've recorded it in a collection of blog entries.

The Mingun bell in Sagaing near Mandalay in Upper Burma was casted much later in 1790.

Chiang Rai: Slow down when you get there.

Friday I'm in northern Thailand.

Monday I'm in Pagan Burma!

Lightning travel can be exhilarating.

What if you slowed down and stayed in one place?

An obscure place, or so your friends say.

That's what I did.

Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand is my home.

Even though I'm originally from Palo Alto, California.

When people ask me where I'm from, I'm from Chiang Rai.

When you stay in one place for a long time.

You begin to see and hear things that you didn't see and hear before.

That's why I started taking photographs.

Developing them at the darkroom of Chiang Rai's Alliance Francaise.

One of my best friends Nung, a true artist, teaches photography there.

The most interesting things to see in Chiang Rai.

Are the little unnoticed things.

Every day beauty.

When you get there: Slow down.