Chiang Mai -- Thailand's fantastic north

We took an overnight train from the Bangkok area (Ayuthaya) to Chiang Mai, located in northern Thailand near the Myanmar border. This is a great town full of cafes, good restaurants, markets, museums, Buddhist temples.




An early-morning Buddhist offering set up outside a Chiang Mai bar


I took this photo at Chiang Mai's Museum of World Insects & Natural Wonders, run by a researcher of malaria and his wife (an entomologist).





Buddhist monks preparing for the 3-day Chiang Mai Flower Festival

Ayuthaya: ancient Thai capital

Ayuthaya, about a 90-minute train ride north of Bangkok, was the capital of Siam from 1350 to 1767. During that period, about 70 wars took place, the last of which resulted in almost total destruction of the city by the invading Burmese. Ayuthaya was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1991, and the listing states that the sites here 'represent a masterclass of genius the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.'


A local tuk-tuk decorated with paintings of Ayuthaya ruins


Our first tuk-tuk driver in Ayuthaya who took us around to explore some of the sites







Huge reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutha (above 3 photos)


Nobody knows how this sandstone Buddha head ended up entwined in the tree roots at Wat Phra Mahathat. The head is purported to be the most photographed image in Ayuthaya.




Another huge Buddha, this one, about 60-feet high, located at the lovely and hectic Wat Phanan Choeng

Wax Buddhist monk statues at Wat Kudi Dao, near Ayuthaya Floating Market

Morning tea break at an Ayuthaya market