Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand Oct / Nov 2017: The Travel Issue | Page 12

DESTINATION DIARY
From Thai sunflowers to Iceland’s Northern Lights, we bring
you the best months to visit some of the world’s most beautiful
places and exciting events from across the globe.
JANUARY FEBRUARY the skies with millions of fluttering
black-and-orange wings.
Ring in the New Year with a day trip
to Saraburi, just two hours north
of Bangkok. Though the province
is well-known for ancient Buddhist
temples, it’s also fast gaining a rep-
utation for the fields of stunning
sunflowers that bloom here from
November to January each year.
Visitors spend hours immersed in
the fields, temporarily blanketed in
bold yellow. Some of the field owners
even offer tractor cart rides for a tru-
ly traditional farm experience. Many
are free to enter, while others charge
a small fee of five to ten baht. Getting
there is easy, thanks to the special
sunflower train by Thailand State
Railways. The train leaves at around
6:30 a.m. every weekend and pub-
lic holiday while the flowers are in
bloom from Bangkok’s Hualampong
Station. At first glance, those quivering wisps
clinging to the trees are nothing
more than the golden leaves of win-
ter. But look a little closer and you’ll
see tree bark come to life — for these
are not leaves but rather swarms of
butterflies. Inhabiting the lush forests
of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere
Reserve in Mexico, the insects trav-
el here from Texas in the winter, fol-
lowing the Sierra Madre Oriental
mountains to the preserve, where
they congregate atop the pine and
oyamel trees.
Wander through the reserve and
marvel at these elegant creatures, lis-
tening out for the soft hum of wings
overhead, as the butterflies gather
in dancing clouds of swirling am-
ber. Come spring, it’s time for them
to leave again, flitting back north to-
ward America and Canada and filling MARCH
SARABURI SUNFLOWER FIELDS,
THAILAND
12 WANDERLUST
THE MONARCH
MIGRATION, MEXICO
HOLI FESTIVAL, INDIA
On the day after the full moon in
March each year, India celebrates the
victory of good over evil and the ar-
rival of spring with the Holi Festival.
It’s a traditional Hindu event but has
become known worldwide for the ex-
plosion of color that erupts around
the country as revelers throw rain-
bow-hued powder over one other,
playing and laughing, forgetting and
forgiving.
If you’re visiting during Holi,
be prepared to get wet and dirty.
This carefree day doesn’t hold back
when it comes to celebrations, with
the temple towns of Mathura (Lord
Krishna’s birthplace) and Vrindavan
(where Krishna spent his childhood)
holding some of the country’s most
exuberant and colorful festivities.
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