Ok, so I was able to setup a quick trip to Northern Thailand for this next week.  Its a little crazy way of doing a buying trip as far as time on the ground goes.  Its two days to get to Chiang Mai - first day the 12 hour flight to Tokyo from Minneapolis, a quick turn around in Tokyo, and then back on a plane for another long flight (although after the back breaking 12 hour flight this one seems short) of 7-9 hours to Bangkok.  Arrive as usual close to midnight in Bangkok.   Check into some airport hotel, wake up at 4 am and stare at the ceiling as my body clock tries to figure out what time zone it is currently in (most likely in one of the zones we flew over somewhere in the middle of the Pacific ocean).   Hopefully fall back asleep, but either way, back up and out to the airport that morning at 8 am and on a short 1 hour flight up to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.  Go strait to the hotel to  drop my bags off and get to a scooter rental place of which there are many.  Usually a card table set up on the side of the road with a couple scooters there, or a small street front rental place.  Either way, for my purposes its the best way to get around Chiang Mai and the surrounding region.  And of course, mom, I also get a helmet.  Actually they have surprise roadblocks that get set up on the major in town thoroughfares fining people for not wearing a helmet - I found this out the hard way.  However, I did avoid having to go to the police station, submit my passport, go through the red tape and pay a fine by . . lets just say coming to a mutual agreement with the good officer. 

But I digress.  As I am writing, I realize I am getting ahead of my self.  Lets just say the next four days there are filled with meetings with current dealers and vendors, working the evening in the night market right in the middle of town and driving aimlessly around the area looking for new sources and unusual collections.  Then pack up four days later, finish up with my meetings and finalize purchases, get back to the airport, fly back to Bangkok in the evening, maybe go into town for a good meal, go to bed, wake up at 4 am to get the 6 am flight from Bangkok to Tokyo, kill 3 hours waiting for the longer 12-13 hour flight home from Tokyo to Minneapolis (it longer than going over as we are flying into the wind), and arrive in Minneapolis that same day that I left Bangkok at 4 am, now at Minneapolis time at 10 am in the morning.

Its actually going to be a fun, all be it short, trip.  I am going to sit down with a couple of the small manufacturers to design a new line of ceramics, I get to wade through the bazaars and warehouses and villages looking for unusual artifacts and objects, eat good food, stay in a nice hotel - which is good because I am so whacked out from jet lag, I spend a lot of time staring at the ceiling in the hotel room waiting for the sun to come up . . .the room better have a nice ceiling . . .I guess I could bring my 14 week old son's mobile from his crib and hang it up there.  Anyway.  There is a pretty festive night market that Chiang Mai is famous for that sells everything from fake Rolexes, Prada bags and t-shirts, to 17th century carvings, clothing from Burma and Hmong tribes (they don't sell Hmong tribes, they sell the products the tribes make . . .).  Granted it gets a little old after being there so many times, but its still cool for the first night, and a necessary part of the buying trip.  Now if I had time, there are great tours to visit surrounding hill tribes that still live in there wood/mud/stone huts wearing their traditional clothing, elephant rides through these beautiful towing forests, river rides and excursions up to the golden triangle - the border area between Burma, Thailand and Laos.  Its easy to be a fan of northern Thailand.  Nice people, safe, plenty to do, easy to get around, good food to eat that won’t require you to remove your lower intestine two days later, and nice and inexpensive places to stay.