I bowled a few times but it's been well over 30 years since I've done this

Free show at the college in Chiang Mai

We expand our minds with travel while we expend our bank accounts at the same time!
By living frugally I manage to do these journeys.

The Air Canada 777 departure was delayed an hour while they had a loo fixed so I arrived in Hong Kong at 17:30, went through immigration and customs, exchanged $10 USD for HK dollars and caught the bus to Discovery Bay.
This trip I stayed in Discovery Bay and did not bother to go into Hong Kong or Kowloon; the weather was cool and raining.
My problem this trip was being able to sleep; I didn't do well this time!

It was no problem for me to get up early Saturday morning, have a little breakfast and then catch the 05:30 bus to the airport, walk through the quiet terminal and catch my Thai flight to Bangkok.
The flight was on time, Maneeda had a car ready for me, and I was driving down the Bangkok-Chonburi Motorway (7) before the clock turned 11:00am.
Lunch was at the Thai Flying Club at Bang Phra... There were people flying there, the club was ticking over, and I was pleased to see the Katana back in the air.
I carried on, back on the motorway onwards to Pattaya. The new section of motorway was open and you can now cut the corner and drive straight to Sukhumvit Road close to the centre of Pattaya. It was a lot quicker.
I drove to Baan Khun Poh hotel on Sukhumvit conveniently between Sois 87 and 89 which lead to the Pattaya Eastern airfield.
A quick shower and I drove to the relatively quiet Eastern Airpark... Not much happening, Paul was preparing the Allegro for its CxA renewal this week, the parachute Turbo Porter was staying while a fair was going on at Sri Racha airport its home base.
I was tired and so I returned to the hotel and went to bed early.
I was first there for the breakfast on Sunday morning, at 09:30, and I thought I was a slacker!
Soi 89 has suffered badly from the flooding recently and so you have to pick your way carefully between the pot holes. There's a lot of road maintenance required on the back roads now while the motorways are very good.

Nobody flew in for the breakfast, I thought that was noteworthy...
I'd learned at Thai Flying Club that the girl who did licence validations so quickly has gone and so this onerous task has fallen on a woman who has made it known she dislikes farangs flying here, and so the process has returned to one that takes months rather than a day to do.
I look for improvement in Thailand and sometimes I see it only for such an improvement to disappear later on. It's a system reliant more on personalities rather than on due process!

I sat and chatted to people at Eastern... Canadian Jim who has just returned from Wetaskiwin where he'd done really well doing aerial photography this past summer, Harry from Cathay who flies the Porter, George who is restoring another flexwing microlight, and of course New Jersey Jim who is busy around the airfield helping his fellow aviators to stay in the air.
Khun Tiki has been well trained in frying up a huge breakfast that satisfies the stomach for a week!

Just after mid day I drove back to Bang Phra where the Katana group (Flying Dutchmen) were making best use of their new freedom to fly.
Doctor Rolf arrived back from U-Tapao with Norman who had summered in Vernon BC this year.
I thought about going flying in the Cessna 150 but I would have to have another check-out and I wasn't inspired... Me not inspired to go flying??? My goodness.

The drive was easy back to Lat Krabang, Maneeda's driver dropped me off at Suvarnabhumi, it was 16:00, I bought a 2,500 Baht ticket to Chiang Mai and was airborne in a Thai 747 (TG116) on time arriving here in Chiang Mai at 18:00 and at John's Place pub by 19:30 after a shower and a Tuk Tuk ride.

Monday morning I went with Mod to the shopping centre where she works and rode the motorbike back, 'went to the optician's and dropped two pairs of glasses off for new lenses to be fitted, dropped in on Khun Nine to get an update on Chiang Mai Flying Club, little happening, went to see Lilly who is now expecting! (not mine!), and dropped some ginger nut biscuits off.
In the evening I went to the college grounds where there's a show every night this week, played bingo, drank some beer, slept well last night.

The singer at left has her own album

The Red Shirt protest drained Thailand of tourists, and Chiang Mai is
Red Shirt territory. Tourist reliant businesses have had to cut back and
so all the added frills such as Thai dancers have gone at some places


I'm playing with setting the ISO numbers higher and taking pictures
in poor light.

Friday Morning...

... was a new experience... Going into a steam room and then getting a Thai Herbal Massage!
I couldn't stand sweating in the steam room for long, ("not more than one hour" I was told), I stood up to it for 25 minutes!
I am not used to doing nothing for long periods, I still have to wind down from a busy summer with twelve hour days and focusing on the job... I lay there and some of the old memories came back to bother me and it's been forty years since that horrible time. The stress is showing I suppose!
Even the dealings with Diamond Aircraft in Ontario and the long painful problem with the DA40 upset me... I can't believe how bad the Diamond company is when it comes to dealing with their customers; how painful they make it to operate their aircraft. I swear I would never ever agree to buy an aircraft from the London Ontario factory again.

No, I can't leave my work behind me!

Thailand is a land of honesty, it's a place where you can think, and where you can perhaps map out a new path in your life.

There are problems to deal with here in Thailand... "Come to Thailand and I'll look after you" seems to be a common statement made by unmarried and a few married women here... With it goes different degrees of truth...
I'm tired of looking after a Thai and her family, it's been fun having this apartment in Chiang Mai, but I have a strong urge to move on.
I have always gone the extra mile for people but now I am tired of the marathon.

Once again I'm faced with the need to make a living in order to get my life on a comfortable track, but what will I do to do so?
Or perhaps I must move to a place where life is not so costly?

Last night...

...we went out late, and were eating dinner at a good restaurant with two very nice hosts at 10pm.
Half the restaurant's serving girls were born as girls...
The food was good... but then I went for a pee... There I was hanging it out and the lavatory attendant came up behind and gave me a neck massage... It's not easy for me to pee while some bloke has his hands on me! and then you have to give him a tip... "Mai mai khorp khun krup" I said the next time I had to pee... I didn't complete the job the last time.

My two hosts for dinner; they're a couple :)

Lucky to be born that way rather than the katoey way

I thought it extremely rude texting all through dinner

Today I have time to update this page... How boring!
I am tired and upset, but tomorrow I'll go on an excursion to Bang Phra and Eastern again, then I plan a bus ride to Korat and onwards to Sukhotai before returning to Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong.

All the girls were pretty tall!

Porntep and I do circuits to check out in the Cessna 150, Bang Phra

Another obstacle at Pattaya Eastern, a bungy jump crane

Finals for 05 Bang Phra in Fernando's CTW

Finals for Pattaya Eastern in the Cessna 150

Huge model Sukhoi doing crazy things at Pattaya Airpark

The Cessna 150 with a Malaysian Cessna 182 at Pattaya Airpark

Pattaya Airpark

What's Thailand without its Wats?

Call to duty... Keep it straight

After four circuits

Busy busy on holiday!

Friday night I went to the Riverside for dinner on my own... Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Coke... I tend to stay off alcohol sometimes.
Then I went to the Kalare Market in the night market to see some Thai dancing, it wasn't to start until 8:30pm and so I walked to Anusarn Market to see Lilly... There was a transexual beauty contest happening there with the prize being a trip to Bangkok for an even bigger contest.
I went back to Kalare and enjoyed a free Thai dance show for a while before getting on the motorbike and going to John's Place.

The apartment was empty when I returned, I set the alarm on my phone and slept through to the early morning... Up at 6, made my porridge, checked my bags and went out to the street to catch a Song Taew... The driver had to pick up a load of school kids and so my journey was not direct to the airport and I was a little concerned... Mai ben rai, I was there easily on time for the 08:10 Thai 777 flight to Bangkok, (2,470 Baht).

Maneeda's driver picked me up and I was on my way down the motorway to Bang Phra... I was there by 11:00!

I had kao pad moo, (rice and pork) cooked by the Thai Flying Club manager, Khun Worawoot, and then it was time to do a check out as required by club regulations... I flew with Khun Porntep who is a new instructor at Bang Phra, I thought it might as well be a useful flight.
We were doing circuits on 05 and this means taking off up hill towards the hill and into its downdraft!
They fill the fuel tanks in the Cessna 150s and I suggested they always fly half tanks for the added performance benefit...
We dragged ourselves off the ground and turned at 200 feet to the left with the ground never getting any lower as we climbed. It's a little frightening to say the least.
At the high temperatures here in Thailand it is important that you lean for takeoff even though the elevation is low. The additional 100 RPM through leaning made the aeroplane perform a lot better.
I did the approaches and landings without flaps on this runway as we needed all the performance to out climb the terrain.
Porntep was surprised I used 60 knots on finals without flaps, then I had him do a couple of landings himself and control the speed.
The 'controller' turned us around and on to 23 for a couple of circuits, this was much safer.

Later on I prepared the other Cessna 150 (HS SUN) to fly to Best Ocean for the BBQ there... I couldn't find a passenger but it did not matter as first the battery was too low to start the engine, and then with a charged battery the radio did not work... They gave me a portable, but do I really want to talk to Bangkok ATC on a portable? No... I'll leave the flying until tomorrow.

Saturday evening I returned to Pattaya and the Baan Khun Poh hotel... I'd cancelled my booking there when I thought I was going to Best Ocean and now I showed up anyway... Baan Khun Poh is a friendly place and I like staying here, 650 Baht a night.

I had dinner on the beach with Alasdair and Gill in the evening, the food was very good, fish and veggies and a Leo beer.

Sunday morning...

...was the Pattaya Eastern Breakfast of course... The place was humming, full of parachutists including a team from Oman all getting ready to leap out of the Turbo Porter over Sri Racha.
There was a lot to talk about... I miss conversation in Canada, it's hard to find there, but here in Thailand as in England you can have a good conversation on a huge number of subjects and learn something new.

Alasdair and Fernando showed up... I had planned to drive to Bang Phra, but instead I flew there with Fernando in his Flight Design CTW...
My licence is only valid to the 15th and it will take 90 days to renew it I am told... So my intention was to log some time in the Cessna 150... One has to fly you know!

If you look at the picture of Porntep in HS PIA you'll notice the shoulder harnesses had to be crossed... I did not like this and had them refit the harnesses properly before our flight. It is very important that a good preflight is done, some snags are acceptable and there will always be a few, but some are not!
After snags were sorted Alasdair and myself went for a flight to take pictures of this hotel, then to Eastern for a low pass. I decided not to land as the aeroplane was not a good enough performer with the fuel we had on board. We carried on to land at Pattaya Airpark a little further south.

Khun Neil is ever the aviator businessman and there was a few things to see down there as is shown in the pictures.

We swapped seats for Alasdair to fly from the left... Took off and returned to Bang Phra in order to get in the trike and fly back to Eastern... Delays are inevitable though...

Khun Charn had turned up to fly his Extra for the first time since February... It had been returned to Germany for rectification of many snags and has only just had its Thai test flight.
Would I mind sitting in the front?
We whizzed down the runway, and got airborne and up and up, contacted U-Tapao and got clearance to go higher for aerobatics.
The Extra is an easy aerobatic aeroplane; we did cubans, rolls, and stall turns.
Some people advocate putting the stick forward and to the right when going left in the stall turn. This was messy in the Extra, if you use aileron don't use too much!
I put the aeroplane in the vertical, checked forward on the stick to zero it on the up line, right rudder progressed to keep the wings level; you have a lot of time to play with as the aeroplane goes a long way up.
Another check forward and full left rudder with no aileron and she reversed easily and precisely... Khun Charn was shocked "you used no aileron!". Why? The only thing you need to control is propeller precession, if you've zeroed the angle of attack, and so at best you need a touch of aileron.

We returned to Bang Phra and were given 23... But now I prefered 05 as it put the setting sun behind us, it was upslope as well.
We all get rusty, and in many aeroplanes this does not matter so much, but in a high performer like the Extra, you'd better be in good practice! We did four circuits to practice landing on Bang Phra's narrow runway.
I haven't flown an Extra (it was this one) since 15th November 2009! Exactly a year... But then I'm in current practice and I had done a dual checkout in a Cessna 150.

'We've got to go'... Dusk was approaching and the trike isn't a fast device... We were flying back 15 miles per hour faster than normal, that meant flying at 75 MPH! Dangling under a flex wing is an interesting experience with a Rotax 912 thrashing away behind me.
Ten minutes after landing it was dark.

Dinner was a huge slab of battered fish and chips at the Caddy Shack in Pattaya... Good English food :) and then a whisky in a bar and off to bed to get up and write this page!
I drive back to Lat Krabang today; I have a room booked in Sukhotai tonight.

Maps are conveniently placed around the park

Wat Saphan Hin (shy Korean visitor)

Monday morning I updated this website and then drove along Motorway 7 back to Lat Krabang to drop the car off by 12.
The taxi to Mo Chit bus station was quoted as 300 Baht, it was only 249 Baht on the meter though I paid two 35 Baht tolls (always choose the tollway if you want to save time). I gave the driver 300 Baht anyway.
I had just missed one bus, so I bought a ticket on the 13:45 bus to Sukhotai, 326 Baht, seat 3A, and I had an hour to have some green curry in the restaurant (45 Baht).
The bus left at 13:55 and it was a long ride up to Sukhotai arriving in the Old City at 20:30.

I had booked a room on the internet... The Sukhotai Guest House is in the New City and here I was in the Old City... Make sure you get the right one!
I didn't want to go back to the New City and so I walked into the 'Old City Guest House' and rented one of their cabins... It had airconditioning, but you don't need it during the night at this time of the year.
The room was comfortable and well worth the price, I went to the Coffee Cup restaurant, had cocoa and ice cream then returned to shower and sleep.

Tuesday morning

I was up early, rented a bicycle for 30 Baht, and went for a short bicycle ride... Could I do this? No I went for a long bicycle ride even though I had not had my breakfast yet, but you've got to make best use of the cool morning.
I suppose an advantage of being a solitary traveller as well as being bicycle current, is that you can whizz from place to place at a rate of knots on your own.

With an appetite built on two wheels I had muesli at another restaurant on the main street and then had to check out by 12... I was tempted to forgo the Sukhotai Guest house (already paid $32 online) and stay in the Old City but I'm here for the experience.
So I rented a motorbike for 200 Baht. Its tank was nearly empty, and so I put 60 Baht's worth of 91 Octane in it at the first garage, it now indicated half a tank; 'should be enough.
That first garage I suspect is there to rip farangs off... [The tank soon was empty again and so that afternoon I filled the tank at the PTT station in the New City and it was full for 86 Baht (I'd asked for 50 Baht's worth!). Mai ben rai].

Loaded up I rode the 11 dusty kilometres to the new city, found the guesthouse, dumped my stuff off, and went exploring... I was hiu mak mak and so stopped at a nice little place, very clean, nice people, and had another green curry together with char manao yen (iced lemon tea).

There's not much to see in New Sukhotai... I wrote a letter to an old friend in England, and posted it from the post office.
There was a chap from Worthing at the guest house when I returned, we sat and drank some beer and talked. The landlord is Indian Thai and his wife (the real boss) is Chinese Thai, and both speak excellent English... It was an evening of conversation... I bought a pork satay from the street vendor across the road and that was my supper.

Check out was to be by 11:00... I had breakfast at the guest house and then wended my way with all my clobber (backpack, computer, and trolley bag) on the motorbike back to the Old City... There was still lots of petrol in the tank and it was mine until 12, and so I went exploring to the south and then to the north of the Old City... Even though I put plenty of kilometres on the bike the tank was still more than half full when I gave it back, further evidence that I had been ripped off for that first 60 Bahts worth.

In the 'Coffee Cup' I sat and had a char manao yen and talked to a swiss girl who I'd met and her mother... I've been many places including to Bern where they were from. I expect to see them here in Chiang Mai during Loy Krathong.
It was 'walkies' time... This time into the central part of Old Sukhotai to walk amongst the ruins there. I expected to pay an entrance fee, you enter through a gate, but there was no charge.
It was a dusty entrance... They are doing a lot of paving and building and so the ground is unfinished.
The grounds themselves are well kept and it was a pleasure to walk around and look at antiquity.
If one had a girlfriend to share it with I reckon it could be very romantic, not that I know much about it!
Besides the central park there was a market with all sorts of wares on sale as well as food stalls in abundance... I sat down to Pad Thai with goong (shrimp) with the concern that such creatures can make one very sick if they are not fresh... It was good, and all was well with the world afterwards.

Time to catch a bus... I plumbed for the 15:30 bus... I was told not to buy the ticket except on the bus, but now I know why you should do this and why you should buy the ticket first.
At 15:27 the bus from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai came steaming through and did not stop!
Bugger!
I bought a ticket for 300 Baht from the ticket seller at the Corner Coffee shop and he phoned to make a booking for me... Now the bus should stop!
I had another hour to wait for the 16:30 bus, the ticket seller was so annoyed at my being upset about missing the first bus he gave me 80 Baht back! So the ticket on the bus would be 220 Baht and through the agent 300 Baht, that's why... But I think it's worth it to have the reservation and the driver knowing that he has to stop for you.

The 16:30 bus was 25 minutes late. I sat next to a Thai lady on the bus, she was from Tak, and she grows oranges and other fruit, is married, and has a son and a daughter.
Communication is not easy as my Thai is very limited, but it was a pleasant 'conversation' on the way to Tak. Watanee got off at Tak and gave me a smile as she left.
The remainder of the journey was rough, from 70 kilometres north of Tak to as far as Lampang they are doing major road works and so we were switched to either of the two lanes each side of the motorway.
Arrival in Chiang Mai was at 22:30 and I took a Song Taew home for 120 Baht.
I'd underestimated the number of shirts I needed, I could have washed a couple along the way I suppose, so I stank a bit... First stop was the shower and a change, then a sleep until 06:00 this morning when I got up to drop Mod off at work. It was surprising to see how many people are up at 06:00!
The nong downstairs has very kindly seen to my laundry... Now for the day.

Friday night

Old Thai House Restaurant food

Lanterns and light figures brighten up Chiang Mai around the moat

Ban Thi aerodrome has a hard surface runway now

Lamphun

Tango Squadron appear to have storm damage,
the C47's elevators were ragged

Cattle graze oblivious to being on an active runway.
Other hazards are the free balloon launched by local people, (top right)

Saturday nights parade gets ready to move

Beautiful Northern Thai costumes

David gets some dual instruction on cutting his birthday cake

Fireworks

Loy Loy Krathong, Loy Loy Krathong...

The song goes...

It's a very cultural time in Northern Thailand... They say it was invented in Sukhotai and then it spread across the north of Siam.
Chiang Mai is decorated with lanterns. Animals and mythological beings are also represented as fabric and wire sculptures with illumination inside.

Saturday evening the roads around the Tapae Gate were closed for a parade to take place.
As reported last year the college kids put on a show of culture by representing all the local Lanna tribes by wearing their costumes.

Every Friday here the school children wear their school's 'uniform' Lanna clothes and in this way they learn to maintain their culture.
This is unlike the 'West' where many people do not care and they wear jeans like they were conforming to a Maoist cultural revolutionary ideology!

On Friday evening I had a bite to eat at the Old Thai House restaurant... It was more than a bite actually as Mod is vegetarian and so there was no-one to share the two person sized fish with!
After dinner we rode around Chiang Mai admiring the lights and taking pictures.

Saturday Flying

Koi picked me up in the morning and we stopped off at a roadside restaurant near Ban Thi for breakfast.
I'd already made my porridge in the rice cooker as is my habit so I settled for a bit of Thai pudding in condensed milk together with iced tea.
At Nok you have to file a flight plan one hour in advance and then you have to send a fax to Khun Robert at Ban Thi next door to avoid conflict on takeoff... This is a legacy of the feud between the two aerodromes!
The female Chiang Mai approach controller responded in clear English and allowed us to do what we asked to do... It was very pleasant.
We flew around the two aerodromes to take some pictures, then on to Lamphun aerodrome for a couple of pictures there and then we requested and were allowed to do a low approach and go around at Chiang Mai Airport.
Back over head Nok we practiced a few steep turns and stalls before doing a low pass to move the cows off the strip...
They moved right back before we got around to finals and were two thirds along the runway... We did a short field landing!

Koi has a second hand car business and so during the rest of the day I learned how Thais deal in this business...
Cars are much more expensive in Thailand at the moment and so there's money to be made!
We went into the Big C shopping centre and ran into Dave Eastmond who used to do the ground school teaching at Chiang Mai Flying Club... It turned out to be his birthday with a do on at a restaurant near Saraphi that evening...
Serendipidy? Always in Thailand... If something doesn't work the way you expected it to then there's a reason and so you should try to go with life rather than fret about preceived wrongs.

I can't eat that much... They tell me I'm a bit 'pom pui' (fat) here! So I did my best to eat the Peking Duck, and Sukiyaki at the MK restaurant during lunch time.

I've been trying to deliver some prints, I have had made from my digital photos, to May at John's Place... It turns out her brother has died (52!) and so she has to go to temple and do many thngs in respect of this.
I took a Tuk Tuk into town and it was a logjam of people and vehicles with the roads closed around Tapae Gate.
I walked a lot last night!
'Dropped in on John's Place, then walked to Chang Moi Road to get a Tuk Tuk to Koi's place... The Tuk Tuk driver knows this town well and took me down some back alley's and across what looked like a footbridge!

I went to the 7-Eleven and bought a bottle of Red Label Whisky as a gift for David on his birthday.

The party in Saraphi was a good one and included fireworks and the launching of hot air balloons including a couple of really big ones which could carry a stick of fireworks high into the sky.

Soon it was time to go, but not home, no, it was to a Go Go bar. We sat outside while the girls were dancing in very little inside... Then they came out and sat with us with not much on especially in the cold of the evening, lit fireworks, and drank Tequilas.

Bed time for me was at 02:30 this morning after the regulation shower!
No, I did not have a hangover this morning!

I have been out today to see a friend in Chiang Mai and to go to the Arcade bus station. Tomorrow morning I plan to go south again, this time to Tak and see a different Loy Krathong perhaps there tomorrow night.

Old Thai House Restaurant

Northern Thai

Up goes another balloon

Saturday night

Sunday in Ban Tak Village, dancing to Luktung (Thai Country) music

The victorious team returns from a race

Mao nit noy perhaps Khun Pa?

Group photo

Yay, everyone happy! Sanook sanook!

Entertainment; Tak City waterfront


Wat paintings are always interesting, 'Pegasus' in Europe I suppose

The water teamed with large fish below Bhumipol Dam

Khun Maree

Buddha looks over Bhumipol Dam

Chiang Mai Parade

Loy Krathong Travels

Sunday evening I made my way into town to see what was happening... I expected closed streets and to walk a distance, but in fact I was able to park between Loy Khro and Road Lai Thai Guest House which is a short distance from John's Place... I had a Tiger lek there and then went back to pick Mod up for her to go and meet her sister.
Mod needed the motorbike and so I was left near Anusarn Market to walk the riverside as far as Wichayanon Road to see the parade... It was a long trek, and then I walked to John's Place for another Tiger lek and took a Tuk Tuk home.

Chiang Mai girl, suay mak mak

Monday morning I planned to take the 07:00 bus to Tak, but I was slow in the morning so the 08:00 bus it had to be.
The four hour ride to Ampur Ban Tak (546 Km point on Highway 1) cost 175 Baht and I arrived there ready for my lunch... Not yet... I was taken by motorbike to the waterfront where boat races were taking place and of course all the girls wanted to dance with me!

I escaped after half an hour or so and went for my Kao Pad Gai; chicken and rice.

Thailand is a social country, there's no doubt that they enjoy their lives and do what it takes to do so.
People do not have a lot of money and earning enough to survive is what most of the people expect.
Everyone in the same boat, no competing with the Jones's, just living a life.

Maree was my host. She is the mother of two who has a garden where she grows Lum Yai (Longan) fruit.
The boat racing carried on, the dancing continued, and Michael was asked to buy some more whisky, which I did. Farangs are always expected to pay when in Thai company, we are rich after all.
I didn't drink any of this Thai whisky and the sum total of my drinking was a plastic cup of Chang beer... Being 'mao' (drunk) is something I've avoided for many many years.

After the boat racing we went to the local market where fish were flipping about waiting to be bought. I bought three tam tim fish, one of which was served up for me by my host.

In the evening we had a ride in a pickup truck to Tak City where Loy Krathong was in full swing.
This was a friendly and lively time by the waterfront in Tak with shows, hot air (lantern) balloons, krathongs, food and drink in abundance. Everyone having a brilliant time.
I'd like to do Loy Krathong here again.

Tak girls, suay mak mak!

A few years ago I did an aerobatic display in the CAP 10C over the river at Tak... All official of course.
I've been here before and the place is still familiar.

I took a room in the Vieng Tak Riverside Hotel, 800 Baht includes breakfast for two, and slept well in spite of the noise outside.
My biological clock still woke me at 06:00... so I snoozed a while.

Maree turned up on time 08:30 for breakfast, I had two tickets for breakfast but she didn't want to eat... She has her morning coffee and that's that. I ate well of course.

Pichart was there with his pickup truck so we piled in and went for an outing to Sam Ngao where we stopped at a large Wat to pay our respects to Buddha, and then on to Bhumipol Dam.

Lunch was late and was below the dam, Kao Pad again for me...
Then we drove to do an arborous walk into the petrified forest which is very close to the main highway (1) in Ban Tak.

Back at Maree's house I had an ab nam (shower) the day had been hot!

I was returning to Chiang Mai in the evening and so we had a pizza in Ban Tak (it was very good), together with a dark German beer, and then I was taken on a motorbike to catch a bus at the stop on the highway.
170 Baht to Chiang Mai, arriving at 23:20, to get a ride from the same Song Taew driver, for the same 120 Baht back to Pada Mansion.

Today I've decided to have a break... I went bowling with Mod at Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall and scored well the first game and not so well the second as I allowed my mind and my confidence to drift.
I am suffering jep kaw, sore throat, and this is not pleasant.
I am told it's - 6°C in Vancouver... Perhaps I should stay here a while longer?

Now I'll update the website and at 17:30 29 prints will be ready and I'll send them to Ban Tak...

Sam Ngao

Petrified forest, Ban Tak

These students were good so I gave them a 100 Baht donation

Service on Thai is always good

The Ecoflyer ready to go on Saturday

Alasdair does a very competent job of flying his aeroplane

There are a lot of developments around Pattaya and eastwards

Thursday evening there was a parade past my apartment along the Chiang Mai - Lamphun Road down past the 89 shopping centre and on to the common ground.
I walked down there to take some pictures and had a glass of Chang beer while I was at it.

Flying again

Friday morning I was on the 10:00 am Thai Airways flight to Bangkok (5,370.00 THB return)... Thai is often less expensive than it's competitors on this route, and in any case they give good and on time service. This was not the cheapest fare I have paid on this route though.

You always get a little box snack pack

This was to be an economy trip to Pattaya, I wasn't going to rent a car this time but take the bus instead... It's less convenient than driving yourself but the difference in cost is huge.
After arriving downstairs in the BKK Terminal I knew I would see the Pattaya bus leaving, and I did... Another hour to wait.
Mai pen rai it's lunch time and I should gin kao anyway... So I walked over to the excellent cafeteria on the ground floor near where you catch the busses... This is a lot cheaper than eating in the terminal; you pay normal Thai prices... 35 Baht got me a fish noodle soup, and then iced lemon tea was another 15 Baht.
I caught the next bus... You buy a ticket just inside the terminal on the ground floor at the south end. It was 124 Baht to Pattaya...
The journey (90 minutes) went very quickly as I conversed with the German traveller sitting next to me.
I got off the bus before it turned off Sukhumvit Road into Pattaya, and took a Song Taew the rest of the way to the Baan Khun Poh hotel... A girl beside me was also going to Soi 87 just after which is the hotel and she gave me her card, "come and see me at Club Misty's" Go Go bar... I didn't! The fare was 10 Baht from the big bus to hotel entrance.

I checked in and paid 2,000 Baht on account (650 Baht a night plus deposit). Baan Khun Poh is an comfortable place to stay and very convenient for me.
There's a Makro store across the road and so it was convenient for Alasdair to pick me up there as he and Gill had invited me for a roast dinner on Friday evening and a large chicken had to be acquired.
We drove back to the house in a complex near Jomtien where I had a couple of Gill's scones with jam and a cup of tea:)
You don't find too many women who can bake and cook these days... It's a bit old fashioned I suppose, but I like it.

Not much was happening at Pattaya Eastern airfield that Friday afternoon but we still managed to while away an afternoon before being due back for dinner.
Dinner was excellent of course, who doesn't like good home cooking, and then there was syrup pudding with custard afterwards.
I'm spoilt.

Saturday morning I was picked up by Alasdair on his rough and ready dirt bike which is not the most comfortable ride... I picked up my breakfast at a 7-Eleven on the way.
After Frosties in chocolate milk followed by a coconut pastry I went flying with Addy in the Sport Cruiser.
We did a weight and balance calculation and then calculated the approach speed based on 1.3 x and 1.4 x the stall speeds. It was decided to try 55 KIAS on final approach rather than the published 60 KIAS which is well over what 1.3 x 32 KIAS (flaps down), and 39 KIAS (flaps up/clean) would be. The aeroplane was easy to handle at 55 and had a large margin of safety at this speed while producing less float and a lot shorter landing.
Even without flaps it was easy to use the effective slip and land short.

After flying I went with Addy to see his new Italian stye condominium project... Single bedroom condos at 12,000 Baht a month and two bedroom ones a little more... There seemed to be no shortage of customers wanting to rent these new properties.
The problem is getting the job completed, and completed correctly. This takes time and supervision.

Addy lives in a palatial house, it was awe inspiring... I could never contemplate having the money to buy such a place or any place for that matter, I took a wrong turn somewhere!

In the afternoon I went to Bang Phra with Alasdair for lunch and a chat over there, and then we flew over to Dok Krai airstrip for a cold drink there before returning to Eastern.

Then I went flying with Jean Marie in his Murphy Rebel... In this case we needed to increase the speed from 50 to 55 KIAS on final with a definate push on the stick to lower the nose significantly in the light windshear on short final.
It's a draggy aeroplane and doesn't really need the flaps... With full flap she came down at a very steep STOL angle.
The Rebel seemed to run out of elevator... A touch of power in the hold off gave a little more slipstream to be able to obtain the three point attitude.
I've suggested a weight and balance check and perhaps adding some ballast in the rear cockpit.

Saturday evening we returned to the Caddy Shack where we'd had excellent fish and chips last time, but this time it wasn't as good.

Bang Phra with a Katana on final

Sunday

It cost me 80 Baht for a motorbike ride from the 7-Eleven the 4km to the airfield... Then there was no-one there, no breakfast on offer!
Addy was out in his aeroplane so I saw his landing which was very very good.
Jim, a scottish welder but not a pilot, sat down with me to talk about the state of the world... With no Tiki to make breakfast we decided to go into Pattaya and have breakfast at one of the guest houses there.

Then Jim drove me to the bus station where I paid 113 Baht for a ticket to Ekamai BTS Station in Bangkok.
The bus left twenty minutes after I arrived at the station and the ride was very quick back to Bangkok.
The girl next to me had been crying... Farang boyfriend trouble, so we talked a bit... On the other side of the aisle there was an American on vacation from Afghanistan...

It was a 30 Baht ride from Ekamai Station to Chit Lom in the skytrain and then a 'sky walk' to the Central World Plaza... I had thought the Red Shirts had demolished this building by fire, but in spite of the media images they had only destroyed half the building.
I met Rodney and Melissa from Australia and Pakorn and Lek from Bangkok and we had ice cream at Swensons... Then tea and coffee at another place in the mall.

We walked to the new elevated rail service to Suvarnabhumi Airport, the streets of Bangkok were busy with a lot of people about.
There's a promotion until December with the fare being only 15 Baht and the train whisks you into the airport in 25 minutes. Very convenient and beats the 300 Baht taxi fare!

The 21:30 Thai A300 flew me back to Chiang Mai and Mod picked me up on her motorbike.

Last supper at John's Place

From the Thai Airways 777 as we crossed into Laos

Monday evening I had a filling put in one of my teeth (350 Baht), and then I met up with Khun Boonying. He was the mechanic for Chiang Mai Flying Club in its day...
We went for a bite and iced lemon tea.

Then Tuesday I roamed around on the motorbike a bit, I went to see Khun Nine, then went to visit another dentist as I have had an implant in my mouth for two years or more and have never been able to afford to put the crown on it!
I went to Anusarn Market and then Kalare Market for a solitary bite to eat... Mod finished work at 21:30 and so i picked her up and went to John's place to meet up with Koi and Nat who were students of mine in 2007.

All too soon it was 05:00 Wednesday morning and I had to get up and catch the 07:00 Thai flight to Bangkok, and the 10:30 flight from there to Hong Kong where I sit and write this while I wait nearly five hours for the connection with Air Canada.

This trip has gone too fast...
Earlier I decided I should visit England more often... It was good to see old friends there and certainly aviation seemed to be buzzing there.
Now I find it difficult to leave Thailand for the cold and troubles of Canada...
Many decisions must be made, I think I have reached a point in my life where I have to consider my future, and my pension!

Postscript:
The Air Canada flight back to Vancouver was delayed for departure but we still arrived on time with the retiring captain pulling off a smooth landing at 14:30 BC time.

Dana picked me up and delivered me back in Ladner, I bathed, and unloaded my bags and then went to Boundary Bay.