I'm in Mountainous Northern Thailand!

Having moved on from the massive urban climes of Bangkok to the smaller, calmer mountainous region of Thailand's "northern capital," Chiang Mai, it seems only right to keep updating my position, globally, at least slightly on schedule with its movements. So, here we are in Chiang Mai. I've already realized that I'm not the kind of person to take pictures, then put those pictures on a blog (sorry), or, at least not taking pictures that I then use on the blog to assist the narrative. So here's a picture of the sunset in Georgia:

The Sunset in Georgia

If Miami were the size of Bangkok, then Chiang Mai is St. Augustine. Even tho it's currently monsoon season, and therefore not tourist season, there's a sizable population of white people. Students, professional athletes, teachers, and retirees. Some of the old white men are disconcerting, but that's something one has to get rather used to in Thailand, apparently.

In Bangkok, we were always on the beaten path for tourists, but here in Chiang Mai it's a bit more of a free-for-all, except with most of the tourist scene taking place within the walls of the old city (part of the rationale for the St. Augustine comparison (tho, of course, I don't know how many of yinz have even been to St. Augustine)). I just took a walk today to sign up for a situational Thai language class, which I missed the first class of, but shouldn't be too far behind in, since I already learned how to say "Hello," "Thank You;" "Excuse me," and to count to ahundred.

We're staying in a little guest house that's just outside the old city walls, around a corner and down a leafy path. It's quiet and quaint and all around quite nice. Also, earlier this summer, I went to Niagara Falls with Dan and Shelley. Here's a picture of that:

"Slowly I turned, step by step..."

We had hoped to go on the Maid of the Mist, but didn't wind up having time in the end, since we drove all the way to Burlington, VT that day. So this is as close as we got.

Eventually I'll get caught up on the picture front, and have more to say for Chiang Mai and Bangkok.