Chiang Mai

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Welcome to Thailand

Another flight and another airline (the prestigous state-run Laos Airlines, ahem...) and we were into the Northern town of Chian Mai which felt like a bit of a return to civilisation (well, McDonalds and wi-fi Internet at least).

After settling in at our nice hotel we checkde out the amazing and frankly enormous night markets, with an incredible choice of outdoor restaurants and street vendors. We also spent some time during the day checking out some of the temples (the town boasting an incredible amount of temples considering its size), we checked out a few that had been recommended to us, including one inside a huge monastrey, nearly being ran over by a convoy of monks as we entered the grounds.

Thai boxing and transvestites

We were slightly apprehensive when considering whether to go to a Thai boxing fight night that was being advertised that weekend but we decided to at least go and check it out. And the first fight featuring two young boys basically kicking each other unconscious did have us slightly concerned but as the night progressed and the standard of fighter got better (and thankfully older). Combined with the slightly bizarre but nevertheless entertaining transvestite cabaret and cheap drinks on offer it turned into a really good night and by the end we were both trying to avoid making eye contact with any lady/man in the audience whilst cheering on the competitors.

There was also a sleazy feel to the town, with numerous roads lined with transvestite bars and the perpetual sight of an old grey-haired white guy being felt up by a young Thai girl/boy proved to be pretty hard to stomach. We also saw a guy walking an elephant around the streets and charging people for photos which, after seeing how well they were treated in Laos was disappointing to see.

The view from the hotel balcony was reall pretty so we spent the final few nights relaxing before saying farewell to the extremely friendly hotel owner as he dropped us off at the train station to set off on our sleeper train to Bangkok.

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