About 3 hours to Chiang Mai

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Justin Yoshida’s location@2:26pm,12/26 Huai Rai, Den Chai, Phrae http://m.google.com/u/m/AL6Y8s

Everybody warned us about the long, windy mountain roads on the way to Chiang Mai, but they aren’t bad at all. I guess it’s because there isn’t a hill in sight standing on the tallest building in Maha Sarakham (my uni’s admin building). I’m moblogging this and eating with Mina right now, and we are in the windiest roads of the whole trip.

The scenery in these mountains looks a lot like Japan, except for the abundant banana trees. I’d rather be sliding around these corners in my old Silvia with speakers blaring ADF instead of bouncing around in a university van, but then again, who wouldn’t?

BTW, Max and Mina are being veritable angels so far.

Royal Thai Motorcade

Last week, on the way home from my program’s English Camp at Nam Nao National Park, I moblogged about a major police presence on the highway suggestive of the presence of royalty. As it turns out, a princess was in town, and we were cleared off the highway to make way for her motorcade. This is my photo log of this most auspicious event.

Long live the King and his family!

Long live Thailand!

On the way home from Nam Nao

English camp was extremely successful this year; our new teaching format worked out very well and feedback from the students has been overwhelmingly positive so far. The biggest complaint I’ve heard is that they don’t want to have class tomorrow, which is understandable, but necessary since last Friday was a national holiday and I can’t let them fall behind the other class taking the same course.

Ajarn Teera is driving and I’m sitting shotgun, my weapon of choice is this trusty Samsung Galaxy 5 loaded with Android 2.1 and an improved Swype haptic input system.

It seems a member of the royal family is in this area because there are police stationed every hundred meters along the highway.

A few miles back we stopped on a particularly scenic bridge and I may have gotten a good shot: