Chiang Mai (Dec 5-7)
Friday after school Josie and I battled BKK traffic to get to Mo Chit bus station (you know it only took us 3 hours to get there) SO MUCH TRAFFIC. We met up w/ Jenny and hopped on our 10 hr. overnight bus to Chiang Mai. It wasn't horrible as I brought my big pillow from my bed--yes I was that guy, but it's the only way to go. They also played Waterworld in Thai which made the movie even worse than it is, but it was something to watch while falling asleep.
We got in about 7-8 after a fairly uneventful night (about 1 am we pulled into a bus station to pick up people and roof of the bus hit the ceiling of the station which was frightening to wake up to, but after a few minutes of scraping our way back out and quick roof inspection we were off). We met up with Leora and Reuven and headed to our guest house. After walking back and forth along the same road like 5 times we finally found where we needed to go: A Little Bird Guesthouse. The place was amazing and only cost 90baht a night (<$3). It's only been open 2 months and is run by a few amazingly nice and helpful young Thais. We couldn't check in until afternoon so they gave us a map and we headed out on a walking tour of the city.
Chiang Mai is so different than BKK and I really really liked it. It's well-kept/clean and just has a more relaxed/chilled out feel. It's definitely big, but doesn't have sky scrapers and crazy traffic/horns everywhere you look. We walked around for a while and saw some really cool temples from as far back as the 1300s. 
After a couple hours we decided we needed some good ol' fashioned Thai massages, so off we headed to the Chaing Mai Women's Prison. I kid you not we got massaged by some rough and tumble convict Asian ladies! They are all due to be released w/in 6 months and the prison teaches them a vocation so they can find work after their sentence. We were all too scared to ask them what they had done, esp. after we felt how they could throw us around. Thai massages aren't exactly relaxing throughout the entire massage. I did fall asleep during the head massage, but there were times when I actually thought my lady was going to snap me in half. At one point she had my foot backward over my shoulder and next to my face while another time she stepped on my legs while holding my hands and arched my back so I looked like the carved out figurehead they had on the fronts of ships back in the day. After twisting me around without telling me what she was about to do she would go "You okay meessta?" 'Uh yea, sure great. I stretch like this everyday' :)
After a couple hours we decided we needed some good ol' fashioned Thai massages, so off we headed to the Chaing Mai Women's Prison. I kid you not we got massaged by some rough and tumble convict Asian ladies! They are all due to be released w/in 6 months and the prison teaches them a vocation so they can find work after their sentence. We were all too scared to ask them what they had done, esp. after we felt how they could throw us around. Thai massages aren't exactly relaxing throughout the entire massage. I did fall asleep during the head massage, but there were times when I actually thought my lady was going to snap me in half. At one point she had my foot backward over my shoulder and next to my face while another time she stepped on my legs while holding my hands and arched my back so I looked like the carved out figurehead they had on the fronts of ships back in the day. After twisting me around without telling me what she was about to do she would go "You okay meessta?" 'Uh yea, sure great. I stretch like this everyday' :)After massages we got lunch in a cool garden restaurant and headed out 
to more temples (well we were actually trying to go home, but got lost and stumbled upon some others--worth it though). We checked into the hostel, where our Irish friend Alan and some other friends from the program were staying, and showered up before dinner. Of the 10 beds in the dorm-style room at the hostel, our friends took up 9 of them (poor Abigail from Wales). We also laugh when we go somewhere that is so inexpensive and find accomodations that may be better than our own at school. Needless to say the soft beds and hot shower were well-appreciated.
to more temples (well we were actually trying to go home, but got lost and stumbled upon some others--worth it though). We checked into the hostel, where our Irish friend Alan and some other friends from the program were staying, and showered up before dinner. Of the 10 beds in the dorm-style room at the hostel, our friends took up 9 of them (poor Abigail from Wales). We also laugh when we go somewhere that is so inexpensive and find accomodations that may be better than our own at school. Needless to say the soft beds and hot shower were well-appreciated. We got some dinner at a Mexican restaurant which was not quite as good at home, but still on par w/ Taco Bell or something like that. That night we had some drinks and played some games at the Little Bird and headed out to the night bazaar. Unfortunately we left too late and the bazaar was going to close so we went to some little bar which closed it's gates behind us once we entered. We found out later that because of the king's birthday the bars weren't allowed to serve until after midnight, so we were actually in our own version of a speak easy. Pretty fun though cuz it was just our group holding down the place. After that we headed over to Mike's Burgers which was an outdoor burger joint where they grilled up the burgers right in front of you complete with chili cheese fries and all the fixins=AWESOME
Day 2 found us up at a reasonable time and off in a Sohngtow (basically a pickup truck w/ benches in the back and a roof) to Doi Suthep. We got breakfast at a little place
and I passed up eggs/bacon for Pat Thai--wow I must be getting acclimated. Doi Suthep is a pretty famous mountain in the area and we rode all the way up to the top to see the wat. They tried to get us to buy a ticket (there was a sign that said foreigners had to pay) but Leora and I walked past and ignored the men following us asking for money. It's pretty frustrating that they blatantly charge foreigners a higher price to enter most sites, esp since we are teachers in Thailand paying taxes. Hopefully once we get our work permits we'll be able to start getting our due discount. After the temple and some delicious street food we drove down the mountain to the Monthanthan 
Waterfalls. It was a beautiful hike along a series of waterfalls literally in the deep jungle; the water was clear and really cold and the bamboo/brush were reallllly thick. Josie and Leora stumbled upon a snake and I thought Josie's blood curdling scream and sprint back down the mountain were actually the result of someone being murdered.
At night we went to the Sunday Walking Street which was
actually an endless street of vendors and food (cheap, delicous food). The weirdest things I ate were crab sausage and an omelette in a banana leaf filled with bee eggs. Not sure why I did that, but why not right? Later we went to the Reggae bar where our hostel owners were and watched/danced to a live band and saw some fire dancers. Then we headed off the Spicy, the afterhours hotspot of Chiang Mai. It is actually a really fun dance club-there was this crazy lady there who was way too old to be at this club but was challenging everyone to dance offs which was hysterical. We slept in late the next morning and got some food/visited some of Chiang Mai's many used bookstores before hopping on an uncomfortable bus back to BKK.
and I passed up eggs/bacon for Pat Thai--wow I must be getting acclimated. Doi Suthep is a pretty famous mountain in the area and we rode all the way up to the top to see the wat. They tried to get us to buy a ticket (there was a sign that said foreigners had to pay) but Leora and I walked past and ignored the men following us asking for money. It's pretty frustrating that they blatantly charge foreigners a higher price to enter most sites, esp since we are teachers in Thailand paying taxes. Hopefully once we get our work permits we'll be able to start getting our due discount. After the temple and some delicious street food we drove down the mountain to the Monthanthan 
Waterfalls. It was a beautiful hike along a series of waterfalls literally in the deep jungle; the water was clear and really cold and the bamboo/brush were reallllly thick. Josie and Leora stumbled upon a snake and I thought Josie's blood curdling scream and sprint back down the mountain were actually the result of someone being murdered.At night we went to the Sunday Walking Street which was
actually an endless street of vendors and food (cheap, delicous food). The weirdest things I ate were crab sausage and an omelette in a banana leaf filled with bee eggs. Not sure why I did that, but why not right? Later we went to the Reggae bar where our hostel owners were and watched/danced to a live band and saw some fire dancers. Then we headed off the Spicy, the afterhours hotspot of Chiang Mai. It is actually a really fun dance club-there was this crazy lady there who was way too old to be at this club but was challenging everyone to dance offs which was hysterical. We slept in late the next morning and got some food/visited some of Chiang Mai's many used bookstores before hopping on an uncomfortable bus back to BKK. 
No comments:
Post a Comment