I forgot to post these...I went on holiday a couple of weeks ago with my family - my sister, brother-in-law, father and step-mother. We had a great time (except for the 17 hour long train journey!)... I loved Pai (again) Northern people are friendlier and more honest than the rest of Thailand, I have found. The worst thing about Pai is the hordes of ridiculous farang hippies wandering around in tie-dye shirts, fisherman pants, dreadlocks and hemp sandals.  What do those guys look like? Anyway, here's a bunch of my pictures - not so many of my family... but here they are...  

 This was the ******* slowest train in the world - that also cancelled first class, leaving me to sleep in a shitty noisy second class berth and then refused to give me a decent refund... We stopped in a great hotel near Tapae Gate.  I used to live in Chiang Mai and I'd forgotten how much I like it up there. There was an infinity pool which at night time was so still, it was difficult to see where the water ended and the world began... We visited the night bazaar and Bor Sang umbrella village... so here are some pics.I liked this shot of the woman working under the King's portrait...

At the village the artists will paint any item you have - this little girl (Jade) is waiting for her T-shirt to be finished. 

I had dinner with an old friend - the handsome guy on the left... still single I think.  We met while we were filming Sniper 3 with Tom Berenger...  Then we went to Pai - where it was cold, but full of lots of boring nature shots...       Then we harassed some elephants while they were having a bath...

  Then I went back to Bangkok.... and forgot to post the pics!

Oh we also rented a couple of motorbikes and my brother-in-law and I rode back to Chiang Mai over the mountains - so beautiful... and really cold at 8am!

Great journal. Thank you for posting it. I used to live in a dorm at CMU for 4 years. I love the north of Thailand.

Beautiful pics!

you're taking some really nice pics these days Dave. The infinity pool one is great!

@Iain - I put my camera away for a long time, but the holiday and Photo Shoot Trip reminded me to take it out again. I took a few of the infinity pool. In the final few, I dabbled my fingers in the water and got cool wobbly image. But the crystal clear one was the most interesting.

the b&w one of the bare trees is also very impressive!!

(but yer still a c*nt)

great pics...really like the water fall one...

Jade's got a lovely Lanna T-shirt ..

amezing.. i like al the l pics there ka my fav animal is elephant .. you all are lucky

nice.

my favourite is the one with the huts, this is the kind of place i wanna go. actually got Pai recommended here for north and i can understand why.

very good pics Dave -- second on Iain's and Manee's notes on those particular shots

remarks --- except maybe the c*nt part ) ...but these guys have met you so....

How cool was it actually in the AM...? looked like a lotta fun with the family!

some great shots Dave ... super journal !!!

Really good pics - the infinity pool one is freaking me out!

Like the elephant shots! I wanna ride an elephant too!

EB ... you was in Sniper 3 ?????

Beautiful pics ja... I just cancel Pai trip

nice trip and nice pics ka

very nice ) thumbs up

With modern camera ..I guess .. .. Always nice

Well done, make me want to go there once again

In the past always went to North by helicopter till my ears almost broken several times

One time with train only

@Danno - it was fun. The temperature at night fell to about 8 or 9 centigrade. But the air is thin and it felt colder - especially when riding motorbikes in the morning. All my family laughed at my thick jumpers and jackets that I packed.... but guess whose door they were knocking on to borrow warm clothing every night?

@King Ling - yes - I'm the first face you can see in the movie... I play a soldier looking at a computer screen. A few seconds later, I'm a soldier biting a pen while thinking. Later I play a blurred blob at a wedding in a hotel ballroom. There's a guy playing guitar in the background - that's Joe Cummings, the guy who wrote Thailand's Lonely Planet.

@Anyone-who-wants-to-ride-elephants - the place I went this time and last time was called Joy's elephant camp - about a 20 minute motorbike ride out of Pai. It cost only 300 baht per hour to ride bareback down to the river, and play in the water. They made a video and edited it nicely by the time we had got changed - another 300 baht, but well worth the money.

@Iain - I put my camera away for a long time, but the holiday and Photo Shoot Trip reminded me to take it out again. I took a few of the infinity pool. In the final few, I dabbled my fingers in the water and got cool wobbly image. But the crystal clear one was the most interesting.