Chiang Mai, Northern THAILAND

After a few days in Chiang Rai, in the far north of Thailand, I traveled 4 hours south of Chiang Rai to the town of Chiang Mai (second biggest town in Thailand as far as I know). Over the past few days I have explored the area extensively, with trekking trips into the mountains to visit hilltribes, bamboo rafting, elephant riding trips, hiking, and more. I really enjoy the natural wonders in this area of the world. If you know me well, you will know that I'm an awesome Thai food cook! I attended a few classes offered by one of the famous TV chefs here in Thailand, so now my Thai cooking is even better! Wanna come over for dinner -- if you can catch me~

I originally planned to be in Bangladesh right now, but for several reasons I postponed the trip to this land of swamps and waterways at the mouth of the great Bengal river.

If you are following news about our planet, you will have seen on TV that Volcano Tungurahua is very active at the moment. I visited this awesome volcano in February, and this was my observation on February 27th 2006:

Baños is nestled among spectacular mountains...and looking over its shoulder is the angry and very active Volcano Tungurahua, which continues to blow dark clouds of black/grey smoke into the atmosphere. In October 1999, Volcán Tungurahua was on red alert and the entire village was evacuated for about 4 weeks. I hope it starts to spew hot lava while I´m here!