Curious. Creative. Living Boldly.
  • Home
  • Journal
  • Fibre Arts
  • Journeywoman
    • Bangkok to London
    • Northern Sea Route Russia 1
    • Northern Sea Route – Russia 2
    • Journey Bhutan – East to West 2016
    • Antarctica 2016
    • Peking to Paris in Penny 2016
    • India and Bhutan in Penny 2015
      • Kolkata
      • ON the Tram…. a bit fish-bowley but lots of waves and smiles…
      • Siliguri to Darjeeling
      • A mountain Drive….. Paro to Thimpu
      • Mongar to Trashingang
      • Trashingang to Sandrup Jongkhar
      • Kale to Monymar… then to so many temples at Bagan
      • Temples in Myanmar
      • Magical Ballooning over Temples in Bagan
      • Bagan to Inlay Lake
      • Inlay Lake
      • Inlay Lake to Taungoo
      • Taungoo to Kyaiktiyo
      • Last day in Myanmar and missing clouds in the sky
    • Greenland 2015
      • Iceberg Gallery
      • Magical Greenland….
      • Julie the landscape
      • Walking the tundra
      • Ymer Island…
      • Zodiacs and Icebergs!!!
      • Ittorqqortoormiit
    • Iceland 2015
    • Antarctica 2014
    • Chile 2014
    • Morocco in Penny 2013
    • Europe 2013
    • Bhutan 2016
    • Journal Categories
  • Photography
    • Biography
    • Arctic Silence
    • Svalbard Ice 2018
    • Svalbard Mountains
    • Antarctica 2016
    • The Shape of Cold
    • The Ice Breathes
    • Greenland 2015
    • Whales
    • Hindsight
    • Exhibitions
    • Books
  • Julie
    • About Julie Stephenson
    • Journeywoman
    • Photography
    • Shaman and Healer
    • Storyteller
    • Wisdom
      • Courage
    • What others have said….
  • Connect
Previous Post
Next Post
Sep 12
in Bangkok to London

Heading north… colour, rain and hair-pin turns….

Being on the road again is just fabulous. I had forgotten though how absolutely exhausting it can be; in a noisy old car in the heat, humidity, rain, traffic, cramped conditions and at times treacherous road conditions.

 

I do though so love driving along in an open car smelling cooking rice wafting from within the small thatched shelters; the damp smell of dark wet forests; pork fat rendering in blackened woks; rainforest blossom.

 

Our first day was hot, but seemed to brighten the colours of the buildings and glistened the gold of the temples, Wat’s and statues of Buddha. The school buildings and fences were often pained in purple and adorned with flags. Buildings in blocks are differentiated by paint. Giant colourful statues of animals stood on display along the roadside. I could understand the roosters, deer, rabbit, tiger, pig, cow…. because of their reference in Buddhism, but I just couldn’t get my head around the significance of a giant statue of a giraffe or Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo.

 

We passed through so many check points along the road north close along the Myanmar border, and came to a section where every 100mts was a soldier with an automatic weapon. We passed an elaborate gate flanked with green army trucks topped with automatic weapons; and then all of a sudden the check point stops became more sparse. We deduced an official engagement must have been being held there, hence the security. Over the following days the checkpoints became more random.

 

Rising sharply from the flat delta expanse from where we left Bangkok, were the limestone hills that house thousands of caves. Sheer cliff faces of orange and grey revealed themselves through the forest and jungle covering the limestone hills.

 

Day two started wet, and the landslips and murky rivers flowing quickly through leaning vegetation evidenced the recent flooding in Northern Thailand.

 

It didn’t take long for us to find ourselves in the rural areas of Thailand. Spears of rice plants striped across the low-lying fields. Terraces enveloped the hill-sides.Banana leaves flanked the roads and corn or maize covered the hills where a speckling of trees were left to provide shade for the workers in the fields. Every piece of land that could be used, was utilised for food. It seemed to be a constant battle to keep the encroaching jungle from devouring the crops.

 

It was slow going from Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son with a surprising mountain climb to  1433 mts. It wasn’t an easy drive in the fog, often with portions of the road disappearing behind an orange sign which I suspect meant something along the lines of “Warning, road disappeared”

 

When the rain comes out, the plastic bag rain-coats come on, and umbrellas come up… even when one is riding a scooter or motor-bike.

 

Coin operated fuel bowsers seemed rather quirky with their colours, but were a vital commodity where the motor-scooter/bike was the most predominant form of transportation.

 

It was wet again for the start of day 3 and the green of the hillsides was luminous. The rivers were murky; the hills foggy; and the road was VERY slow going along the wet hair-pinned road north from Mae Hong Son to Chaing Rai.

 

I loved stopping and seeing what was available in the markets. I had such fun with a lovely lady at a market where the only common language was laughter.

I’ve bought fruit and vegetables and although so delicious, paid a ‘tourist tax’ on a bottle of beautiful rainforest honey. I passed up on purchasing a large bottle for 10 Baht from a lady from the ‘Hill-Tribes’ at the top of the mountain; to then decided I REALLY wanted a bottle of honey and COULD find space for it….but by that time we were closer to the tourist area of Chaing Mai and paid a hefty 10 times as much. no wonder she smiled so broadly as I left. LOL I am very aware of being a ‘farang’ or foreigner… and recognised that the asking price for most things for us is often double than what a local would purchase it for.

 

I realized even in the rain that the colours of the buildings and streets was still bright. The marketplaces were speckled with brightly coloured clothing, hats, trinkets, fruits and vegetables.

I spied something interesting happening off to the side of the road and we stopped and looked at a lychee sorting facility where the lychees are graded and then sent on to a factory to be dried. 

Although the tourism industry from China here in Northern Thailand has somewhat been thwarted due to recent car permit restrictions, road construction still seems to be powering ahead and our progress to Chiang Rai was slow.

Max then had the best street food for dinner… a roti type flat bread with egg… you should have seen the delight on his face!

 

Day 1 – Bangkok to Mae Sot     522km

Starting Elevation   2mts

Finishing Elevation        210mts

Highest Elevation          869mts

Day 2 – Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son  401km

Starting Elevation       210mts

Finishing Elevation     240mts

Highest Elevation       862mts

Day 3 – Mae Hong Son to Chiang Rai    428kms

Starting Elevation     240mts

Finishing Elevation      390mts

Highest Elevation      1433mts

 




























Share this:
652
0
About the Author: Julie
I am a Journeywoman. I live my life as an explorer. An adventurer. An Observer. An Artist. There is no differentiation between how I live my life and the art that is an expression of it. It is through my experience adventuring the unknown, that I learn more about myself. My aim through this connection is to live where my expression is fully in alignment with the essence of who I am. “In the field of Fine-Art Photography, Julie stands apart from others with the way she sees the world and expresses her connection within it. Julie Stephenson’s photographs are sublime. Her work is an expression of her deep connection; and a gift to the world.”

  • Pilot whales in Tonga… an exhilarating experience and so much fun!!
    In the rough water on a very windy day we spotted the misty spray of the Read more
    in Tonga 0 comments
    0
  • A SMACK of jellyfish !!
    Smack... fluther... smuck... collective nouns for heaps and heaps of jellyfish! Read more
    in Earth and Sea, Uncategorized 0 comments
    0
  • pompano beach
    Here are some photos I took recently at Pompano Beach in Florida - using Read more
    in Uncategorized 0 comments
    0

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Journal Categories
  • Fine Art Journal Posts
  • Northern Sea Route
  • Peking to Paris Journal Posts
  • India and Bhutan
  • Antarctica Journal Posts
  • Greenland Journal Posts
  • Morocco Journal Posts
  • Tonga Journal Posts
  • Photography Teaching Journal Posts
  • Inspirations Journal Posts
  • Books

skeinydipping

I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have t I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have touched; have loved; have created; have worked; have nurtured. My hands.   

I looked down and saw on my wrist and fingers items from around the world which have so many stories; items which have all been created from the heart and made by the hands of others. 

I looked down and saw beautiful yarn. Yarn which has been handled carefully through shearing, dyeing, skeining, balling; and now being knit in my beautiful hands. 

My hands are one of my gifts. This year I’ve really missed the touch of another with my hands, to feel the heart of another through my fingertips; but so grateful and love my hands which touch and feel; work and play!

What do you see when you look at your hands?

.
.
.
Knitting a fabulous  #slipstravaganzamkal by @westknits .
.
.

#gratitudeattitude #westknitsarethebestknits #westknitsmkal2020 #knittersofinstagram #knittersoftheworld #knittersofaustralia #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #handmade #handmadejewellery #fromtheheart #createeveryday #livetotravel #healing #healinghands #creativehands
My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories. I’ve had adventures on all continents. Slept being rocked by the sea; felt the ice on my skin in both polar regions, and felt the silence of the deserts. I’ve walked stone steps in monasteries at altitudes where each step I’ve taken consciously and mindfully; focussing on treasuring every molecule of oxygen in the rarefied atmosphere. 

COVID has paused those adventures, but I draw upon my experiences as I navigate adventuring my days in a different way, on our ‘home range’. 

I recall my steps in Tibet as I walk through our bushland. I am mindful and conscious of my surroundings. I listen. I feel. I feel happy here. I am content.

My new stories may not hold the same experiences of connection with others; and may not be of extreme challenges or crazy things  (which I am rather prone to doing! 🙂 ) but they are not less wondrous… as I smell the warm eucalyptus waft from under my feet. 

I weave my stories, and this story is of my personal journey on my daily walk through our bushland. 
You can see some of my other woven stories on my website - link in profile. 

How do you express your life’s stories?
.
-
.
-
#weaversofinstagram #indiedyedyarn #indiedyed #rigidheddleloomweaving #ashford #inspiredbynature #contentcreator #emotionalbalance #homedeco #handcrafted #makersmovement #creativelifehappylife #wellbeing #travellerlife #journeywoman #weavingaustralia
“....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those “....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those times in your life when you need a meditative and healing knit. Assookinakii (ass-s-oo-kin-uh-k-EE) means ‘healer’ in the Blackfeet language, thank you to Cut Woods School in Browning, MT for the tradish language support”. –  Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers 

Knitting this beautiful cowl by Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers for @sistersunitedmt ; WAS healing. 

As my hands gently formed the repetitive stitches I reflected on the word ‘Assookinakii ‘ - healer. I am a healer. I don’t understand it. It’s something unseen. Something within me which has been recognised by Ngangkari and ‘clever men’ here in Australia; and shaman and healers around the world as we travel. This recognition always has caught me by surprise; as I seem to walk a line between two worlds. 

As the stitches slipped from one needle to another and the beautiful colours of @spincycle_yarns revealed themselves; in the pauses between the stitches I heard a voice whispering to continue to seek connection with the natural world and listen deeply. 

What has been healing for you this year?
.
.
.
.
#healingjourney #meditationpractice #dyedinthewool #assookinakii_cowl #knittersofinstagram #knittingaddict #livinglifetothefullest #happydays #shaman #healer #healersofinstagram #listentoyourheart #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #knittersgonnaknit #knittersoftheworld
Follow me on Instagram

 

 

2017 All photographs created by and property of Julie Stephenson.