When I went out this morning almost everyone was wearing a mask and I did too but the problem that I have and others with specs have is that we have two choices……….we can either see where we are going and breathe unclean air or we can breathe clean air and not see where we are going due to your specs steaming up. It’s winter here and so the specs are cold and they just fog up. I had the same problem when I went to Harbin in the north of China when I went to see the Ice Festival, but the difference there was that the condensation soon turned to ice.

Wuhan is around 750 km from Suzhou but in this day and age and especially in China that distance is very small, the transport system here is very efficient and of course Wuhan is a transport hub and that is also why the government has decided to lock it down.

A pandemic is never a good thing I guess but that’s what is possibly going to
happen in the days and weeks to come. China has once more been the source for a rather contagious SARS like bug that has appeared at the best possible time to cause complete chaos and disruption to the Chinese New Year celebrations. I heard on the news this morn that the infection could have come from a snake or a rat, I’m putting my money on the Rat, after all we are entering the year of the Rat.

Many people are beginning to panic and quickly change their New Year plans, hotels have had many cancellations, Sissi told me that the houses she has with Airbnb have no one now, and future bookings have been cancelled too. Restaurants and most New Year celebrations have been cancelled, in fact anything where there will be a large gathering of people. I for one am not fussed, I can be quite anti-social at the best of times and just now I usually get many invitations and often would rather stay at home with a
good book or just watch the box. This year I will get my wish.

Most people seem to be reacting as if the problem has arrived on their doorstep and many are taking no chances. The Chinese will do as they are told by their government, many do not have free thought and so will do what they have been advised and to be honest it is just as well. They have one bad habit here that will help to spread this virus, most Chinese folk do not cover their mouths when coughing and I often want to punch them in the throat if they do this near me. May as well give them something to
really cough about. Maybe after this health scare the message from the
government might get ingrained into the psyche for future reference.

It is winter here and there are many folk already suffering from some ailment. Last week I had a bad throat, caused I would think by the high pollution levels, there have been warnings that it is unhealthy and for me I would have to agree. I don’t have to look at the app on my phone to tell me that the air quality is not good today; my throat does that for me. So for the last week I have been coughing up a lung or two but after using an expectorant for a few days my cough is better and the amount of phlegm
being produced has reduced dramatically. I was really surprised just how sticky that stuff can be. I tried to dispose of a load down the sink while I cleaned my teeth and the globule just refused to be washed away, no wonder it’s such a drama trying to get it out of our body.

On a different note, I was on the bus the other day and a manky old man got on the bus at the same stop as me. He had just lit up a doubt a few minutes before the bus arrived, took a couple of draws and then snubbed it out and put it back into his pocket. I stayed well clear of him on the bus; I would rather breathe in all the PM2.5 on offer than sit near him.

He blew his nose and then dropped the wet soggy tissue on the bus floor at which point almost all of the other passengers got onto him and told him to pick it up and put it in the bin. It was so good to see, maybe there is hope for this country yet. He protested for a few minutes but then he had to admit defeat and he picked it up and put it in the bin. They have many bad habits and throwing rubbish on the floor as you know is one of my pet hates, so to see so many people chastising this guy gives one hope for the future.

When
I went out this morning almost everyone was wearing a mask and I did too but
the problem that I have and others with specs have is that we have two
choices……….we can either see where we are going and breathe unclean air
or we can breathe clean air and not see where we are going due to your specs
steaming up. It’s winter here and so the specs are cold and they just fog up. I
had the same problem when I went to Harbin in the north of China when I went to
see the Ice Festival, but the difference there was that the condensation soon
turned to ice.

It was a little bit before four in the morn that I woke up because I needed to go to the loo. It was cold and I was now regretting having had that late cuppa last night.

A few minutes later I was tucked back up in bed and thinking of the hours of sleep ahead of me, at least two maybe three. I have to get up early this morning and wash the bedding because the sun is set to shine for one day before the rains return and of course I have to get up and do all of this before Sissi’s mother gets up and claims the balcony and or washing machine.

Shortly after four I hear someone moving around, they are in the kitchen. The microwave is switched on and then I hear the clink of cutlery against a bowl. Light switches being switched on and off and then footsteps to the front door. Slippers kicked off and then the door is opened and closed. Who is going out at this time of the morn, maybe Sissi has decided to go off on one of her random adventures.

I’m up at 6:30am, a little bit later than I wanted. I stripped the bed and put on the washing machine then made breakfast. I love that first coffee in the morning, it does wonders for the body. Not only does it want to expel yesterday’s food but it is also helping to dislodge the phlegm that has been causing me to cough the last few days. The pollution has been bad and my throat has not been happy, it feels like I have a Klingon on my throat catching my breath and making me cough. The lump that was ejected from my mouth was large enough to give someone concussion if it happened to strike them on the noggin and so I instantly felt lighter.

The second load was on, breakfast was finished and still the house remained quiet. The machine told me that my sheets were ready to be hung over the balcony, so I hung them out and got ready to go to the park.

I feel lethargic today, could be the air quality or because my sleep was disturbed, but either way I’m home and I’m going for shower. It’s great to step into the shower but I have to make sure that I warm up my hands and feet before I step in because today the feel a little numb.

Sissi is up and she told me that her mother had gone out early this morning but she has no idea where, I said that she left just after 4 am. Her clothes are here and so is her toothbrush and the like so I guess she hasn’t gone home. The house is so quiet and there is a level of calm that I have not experienced for some time. I can’t relax because at any moment she will walk back through the door. Mind you as I look around I see that the plastic basins have been removed from the bathroom, she fills them each night with water and then uses this to flush the loo thinking that this is better for the environment by saving water…………….instead it only makes the toilet less efficient when you flush it as normal. The water level drops in the bowl and there seems to be an airlock created and so sometimes you end up having to flush twice.

I go for an early lunch with the intention of going to the old city today but after brunch I head home in the off chance that the house may be still empty and to my joy it is. There is no movement, it’s quiet and still and now the birds outside seem noisy………all is well in the world………….normality has returned.

Sissi comes home and she still hasn’t heard from her mother but rather than worry just yet I take the opportunity to read my book. The sun is shining and the balcony is beginning to warm up and it’s really very pleasant. I keep waiting for Sissi’s mother to come out to the washing machine or bring a bucket of water out or to just suddenly appear. There is a stillness in the house that I have not felt for weeks. Her mother can not just sit still and so the house is always in a flux, but today……..today is glorious and I am going to enjoy it the best I can.

And so after reading a few chapters, having more coffee and soaking up the sun and feeling warm from head to toe I have decided to write these thoughts for all to see. Sometimes the simple pleasures in life are all we need, it’s all we want sometimes and I have certainly enjoyed my quiet day at home.

I travelled to Singapore to see the solar eclipse last year. This meant that I had to get a plane train and an automobile to get to my destination and then the next day I spent nearly two hours getting to the Science Museum to get a pair of glasses so that I could look at the sun during the eclipse. So I made quite an effort to see a natural wonder happen in real time, in the flesh so to speak.

As I mentioned earlier I ended up not getting any glasses because everywhere I went they were sold out and so I didn’t know what to do, because it is way too dangerous to look at the sun with the naked eye and so I was pretty well stumped as to how I could solve this problem. I went back to the shopping centre near the bus terminus and thought that I would just get the bus to the nature reserve and give up on my plan to see the eclipse and anyway no matter where I was in the city I would still be able to see the sun.

I passed McDonald’s and thought that I would pop in for a coffee and I just happened to look up through the glass awning outside McDonald’s and low and behold I could see the eclipse, I put on my dark specs and looked again and I could see the eclipse perfectly. I could not believe it.

I stood for some time and the crowds started to swell under the awning as we all looked through and watched one of nature’s wonders. I stood there for quite some time, in fact until the full annular eclipse arrived and then a bit longer as it began to pass. All this time I took pictures with my phone and I took a few pictures with my camera, which I’m glad to say, have turned out remarkably clear indeed.

I went into McDonald’s for a coffee and sat down for a bit and rested my weary legs and my neck was getting a bit tired and strained for looking up for so long. In the middle of the restaurant there was a group of young guys, maybe 14 years old or so and they were sitting in this circular booth playing games on their phones and stuffing their faces, meanwhile outside one of the wonders of nature was taking place and yet they have their noses stuck in the virtual world on the phone.

Is this a sign of the times or has it always been this way?  If they had no phones would they still be inside or would they have been outside watching the nature’s spectacle for free? Either way I thought to myself that they have missed out on something that they may never get to see again.

I love Chiang Mai for many reasons, it also is a very familiar place. People come here to die, to find themselves, to let their hair down and some embrace the idea of the hippie lifestyle and some even turn feral.

A new traveller has arrived, the Chinese traveller and I cannot imagine what runs through their brains when they see the freedom and chaos that is Chiang Mai. Their society for the most part is very ordered, although things are changing as we all know, but when you see some of the fresh Chinese faces it can be amusing.

The selfie culture is very strong in China and everywhere you go at the moment you see many Chinese in the usual dozen poses and positions that must happen so that you can post them on the Moments pages within Wechat, which is similar to Facebook. These poses are practised and perfected over time until they become perfectly natural and this is a sign of a seasoned traveller.

All these “natural” poses can take quite some time to master of course and it can be quite funny watching the process. Posting your life on Moments or Facebook is for many their life, I too have been guilty of posting a picture or story or two but I don’t prepare the shot to make myself look fantastic…. I don’t need too😊

What I like about the Chinese is that many of them are fashion tragic’s anyway and you can spot them quite easily when you travel, but in Chiang Mai some have embraced the local style and they just don’t look that comfortable within themselves, in fact they have the same look as some of the old westerners that come here and do the same, mind you they look way more ridiculous.

I’d like to turn feral but I don’t think my self esteem would let me, I have to admire some of these old folks. I saw one lovely old couple yesterday that looked as if they had been together forever and they were maybe in their late 70’s or early 80’s and they had on their hippy clothes and were shuffling around but the difference was is that they looked very comfortable, they were not trying to look cool….. they were cool.

This is what I mean about many of the people you see on your travels, some are cool, very cool and they are out there but then you get the ones that are trying so hard to be someone that that will never be and it can look so sad and a little bit funny at the same time. But you know it keeps me amused and both my mother and I used to often “pass remark” on what we saw stroll by.

Overlooking Chiang Mai there is the temple of Doi Suthep. The road up to the temple winds its way up the mountain until you reach the entrance and then you have to climb over a hundred steps to finally reach your destination.

Yesterday however I decided to walk to the temple which stands at a height of around 600m by using the old monk trail. It’s tough going and it’s up all the way with almost no flat sections to give you a breather. It is also very hot and humid which adds to the difficulty, but it was by far the best way to get there.

The view from the top is great because you can see for miles and miles, especially on a clear day like today. I didn’t visit the temple this time but instead had lunch and coffee before I contemplated the journey down. I opted to take a local taxi, ten of us crammed into the back sitting on bench seats. The journey down the hill was not enjoyable and after a few minutes being driven by a lunatic I wished I had just walked back down even although I was feeling tired.

It’s about four hours on the bus and possibly longer due to the amount of roadworks. I’ve driven this road many times but it’s a bit more of a challenge if you are in a bus or truck. There is major changes being made along the way.

The bus was quite comfortable and even had reclining seats, although mine would slowly rise back up to the normal seating position every time we went over a bump. I obviously wasn’t smart enough to be able to lock it in place.

I’m now in the Black Canyon cafe and it’s after 5.30pm, which is usually my cut off time for coffee but I have not had a good coffee in days and this morning’s instant coffee was just bearable.

After here I’ll go to the Sunday Market which is huge in Chiang Mai and I wanted to be here for it in case I see something which takes me fancy and if I do I might even take her home 😊

I kept the scooter that I had rented for another half a day and went out early to the white temple and then from there I headed to the national park where I went to have a look at the Khun Korn Forest Park Waterfall which had a 70m drop and is about 1500 m into the forest from where you have to park.

I had my sun sleeve things on instead of wearing a jacket, a bandana thing covering my neck and tucked inside my shirt, hat and gloves. All this is designed to keep the sun off me when I’m on the bike but I wore it into the forest because the mosquitoes were a plenty, although not very big but annoying all the same.

It was a pleasant walk but it would have been good if I could have found a longer trek nearby, most of the good trekking here is a little bit further out. Mind you I was feeling tired as I had not slept very well in days. There are some giants here, the trees, the bamboo and what looks like banana trees, quite spectacular.

I returned the scooter just after 3pm and picked up my luggage from the hotel and then walked about 700 m to my new hotel for tonight, it’s very close to the bus station and yet it is on a very quiet soi and so I’m hoping I can get a good sleep.

When I checked in that’s exactly what I did, a snooze for an hour before going for a wander on my last night in Chiang Rai. I came across a large street market and bought Jackfruit and a chicken kebab. The market was busy and after about an hour I headed for home via the night bazaar and bought myself a local bill tribe jacket.

The noisiest thing at the new hotel was a pesky cricket but I was very happy to listen to him singing as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

This morning I went to visit the white temple once more, it always looks great especially when the sun in shining.

The golden building is the best looking toilet I have ever seen.

A few years ago the temple got damaged in an earthquake but thankfully the damage was only superficial. When you come to Thailand it is easy to get templed out because they all begin to look the same, but in Chiang Rai the Blue and the White temples are certainly worth coming to for a look. I have visited the white temple a few times but it’s always nice to see it again.

Yesterday I got pulled by the Polis but as soon as I raised the lid of me helmet and he saw the old foreign face looking back at him he sent me on my way. 😊

I’ve had this effect on many people over the years.

I went to the Blue Temple and so had everybody else,

On the way there I passed another temple of a very different colour and there was almost no one here at all.