Chiang Mai

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I got into Chiang Mai around 10 AM or so, and went to Julie's guesthouse because I had read it's a rather cheap option. Apparently, I wasn't the only person with this idea, because it was totally booked out when I got there. After a bit more wandering, I settled for a place right around the corner comically named "Same Same." There was food to be had downstairs, a hammock, and it was close enough to everything else so I was happy. I dropped some laundry off and went to explore the city.

The layout of Chiang Mai is neat because part of the city is surrounded by a square moat. It makes things rather easy to find because if you walk long enough, you always run into the moat. Anyways, I checked out a few wats, and then moved on to my main goal of the day, organizing a trek. I spoke with a few different people, and ended up going to Libra guesthouse, where the lady I spoke with, named Dao, seemed very knowledgeable and kind. I agreed to move to Libra the following day, in the hopes of joining up with another group to go on a trek. She said the following day wouldn't be possible, but in two days there might be enough people to go on a four day trek. This was exactly what I wanted, and so things were looking up.

After taking care of the trek stuff, I went back to Same Same and had dinner, read some, and joined some others going to the night market. The night market is cool, but it's just like every other market in Thailand. You see the same products being sold at about ninety different stalls, to the point where if you see another fake watch at the end of the night you want to vomit.

Since I didn't actually need to buy anything, I left the market rather quickly in search of a good night spot. I wandered down some random road that looked alright, and met a few random Aussie girls, but they were heading in early. There was a Thai dude bringing his elephant around to the different bars, and so I paid him 30 baht or something to feed the elephant some bananas. That was pretty neat. What wasn't so cool, however, was how every bar had about 3-4 prostitutes in front of their establishment trying to literally drag me inside. I finally found a bar without this type of promotion, and went in and sat down. I got to talking with a young Thai girl, who seemed pretty nice, and we went upstairs to shoot some pool. We had been talking for a while when the conversation turned to work, and I asked her what she does. Her reply was that she "works in the bar," which I presumed to mean she was a bartender. She corrected me though, saying she didn't work behind the bar... Sooo she was a hooker also, and once I made it clear that I was not interested in that type of thing, she turned her attention to another guy. It sucks that it's so hard to meet normal Thai girls in bars here, but I guess I could also be going to the wrong places. It's also a bit depressing that prostitution is so prevalent and almost accepted... But, at the same time, this problem may be a bit "better" than stabbings and shootings happening constantly. I'm not sure.

Anyways, after my experience with her I went back to Same Same and fell asleep.

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