Travels in Thailand: Highlights from Seven Weeks in Siam

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Travels in ThailandHighlights from Seven Weeks
in Siam

• LIBR 500 Project
• September, 2003
• Ryan Vernon
• r_vernon_at_shaw.ca

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• On June 29th 2003, I boarded a plane at YVR,
  leaving my home in Canada to spend seven weeks in
  Thailand.

It was to be an amazing trip
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• Seven weeks gave me enough time to see a lot of
  the country

• Bangkok

• Chiang Mai

• The Golden Triangle

• Ayutthaya, Lop Buri Kanchanaburi

• Koh Tao Koh Penang

• Krabi

• Songkhla

• Phuket

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Highlights

• Trekking in Chiang Mai.

Trekking was amazing, but it was very hot
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Highlights

• Thai Cooking School

I Learned how to make

• Curry
• Red
• Green
• Penang
• Noodles
• Spicy
• Pad Thai

• Salad
• Papaya
• Carrot
• Soup
• Tom Yam
• Other
• Spring Rolls

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Highlights

• AyutthayaUNESCO World Heritage Site

From 1350 to 1767 Ayutthaya was the capital of an
empire which ruled most of south-east Asia. The
ruins were truly awe inspiring
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Highlights

• AyutthayaUNESCO World Heritage Site

To see a list of UNESCO world heritage sites
click here
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Highlights

• The Tiger Temple

In the Kanachaburi district there is a Buddhist
monastery dedicated to the rehabilitation of
tigers that have been rescued from owners and
poachers. I had the privilege of meeting some of
the monks and interacting with the tigers.
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Highlights

• The Tiger Temple

This cub is about two months old. I also got to
hold a cub who was only two weeks old!
Me with a three year old male tiger He was
beautiful, and BIG.
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Highlights

• Monkeys

• We discovered groups of monkeys three times on
  our trip. In some ways theyre just like little
  people

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Highlights

• Monkeys

One group of monkeys had over-run part of the
town of Lop Buri. Even though theyve been known
to snatch the odd purse, theyre tolerated both
because of Buddhisms benevolent attitude towards
animals, and because lots of tourists come to see
them.
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Highlights

• Sea Kayaking

In the Krabi area we went sea kayaking amongst
the limestone formations and
mangrove swaps. At one point we encountered
another group of monkeys who swam over to our
kayaks, climbed on board, and proceeded to raid
the stash of fruit that wed been saving for a
snack. At one point there were 8 monkeys onboard
with us!
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Other Highlights

• Thai Culture

• Fishing

• The Beach

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If you decide to go to Thailand, remember

• It helps to learn a couple of words
• Sawatdee Krub Hello, or good-bye.
• Khorb Koon Krub Thank-you.
• Gee bhat How much (money).
• You can almost always barter In many cases its
  expected.
• Never trust tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxi) drivers.
• Smile Thai people do.

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Some notes

• While in Thailand I used a Lonely Planet
  Guidebook. It was invaluable. Click here to
  visit their website
• Most of the photos were taken on my Nikon F-65
  SLR. For a great Nikon photo site, click here

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"Khorb Koon Krub"
Thank You