Same same, but different

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I woke up after what seemed like five minutes sleep and still an hour-and-a-half away from Chiang Mai. Various bunks had emptied during the night and the super efficient guard had changed them back into seats and placed fresh linen in the top bunk, just as he did with mine once I climbed down. Although I didn't time him it seemed to take exactly the same amount of time to change them back into seats. I sat and watched as we passed through heavily wooded mountains munching on my banana waffle and omelettes I'd bought from the night market in Ayutthaya. The omelette was packed with greenery of some sort which made it rather chewy. Apart from the fact that it was stone cold it was rather tasty and I was glad to be having some vegetables in my diet at least. We passed small villages as we continued to Chiang Mai and part of the railway track was lined with unused padi fields.

The train pulled in at about 8.30am. As I walked down the platform I was bombarded with the usual offers of accommodation and taxis rides into town. There was at least a well placed tourist information desk opposite the exit from the platform, although they didn't have a huge amount of information regarding public transport into town. With a map of the city in hand I found one of the few drivers who's English extended past the four words 'Hello sir, tuc tuc?' and bargained a price for transport to the hostel. It was a ten minute ride into the central part of the city and not a journey I would have liked to have navigated on foot. I was greeted by Anne when I arrived at the Jai dii House who checked me in and asked if I wanted to book any tours or cookery courses. I was keen to guarantee my onward journey to Laos first and seeing the transport options listed on the wall behind her, asked about fast boats down the Mekong river. Mark, Anne's other half, explained that the option was there to take a fast boat but they didn't advertise it as it wasn't that safe or reliable. I was faced with a problem - take the slow boat and chance not making it out of the country before my visa expired, or take a cramped twenty hour minivan journey. Sadly the minivan won - not as exciting as a boat trip down the Mekong but I couldn't be doing with the hassle of overstaying my welcome in Thailand.

Once I'd dropped my bag in the dorm I planned what I wanted to see I'm Chiang Mai, which it has to be said isn't very much. There are a lot of Wat's in the city, which I'm sure are all lovely when you haven't spent the last week seeing temples and Wat ruins, but I was a bit Wat'd out. I knew my first port of call would be a pharmacy to pick up some Tigerbalm as the bites on my knees had gone down overnight thanks to Samsee - it truly is a cure-all. After my route planning and pharmacy run I headed off to do a couple of the major Wat's in Chiang Mai. I started with the Tha Phae gate, the eastern entrance to the city, it looked as though the walls would have run the length of the central city's perimeter in days gone by, but were now limited to the gate area. I walked up Ratchadamnoen road and stopped for a quick bowl of chicken rice before heading to Wat Pun Dtoe. Although not one of the big two it looked nice from the outside so I ventured in. I was offered to release a wicker cage of birds to promote good luck for 100baht, and as there were five of these things trapped in a small cage I felt I wanted to do it for the birds than myself.

From here I walked on to Wat Chedi Luang a place where the Buddhist monks came to practice their English so as to better teach the dahmas of Lord Buddha. The Wat itself was very new but the magnificent collapsed chedi behind it would have towered over much of Chiang Mai when it still stood. I got the opportunity to talk to one of the monks after wondering around. I asked him why he chose to become a monk ad how long he had been a monk. He told me that it was to better serve Buddha and that he had been a monk for four years. We talked about the history of Buddhism and I asked how I might achieve enlightenment on my trip. He showed me a small book containing The Noble Eightfold Path-Magga and told me that by following the right view, determination, speech, act, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and meditation one might become enlightened. I asked him how long it might take and he said some people take a short time to achieve enlightenment and some may take their whole life - so the chance of me doing it before I got home was slim! I thanked him for his time and walked on to Wat Phra Singh. It was a very well kept temple laden with golden Buddhas as many of the temples I had seen already were so I decided to wonder back to the hostel to catch up on some sleep.

After my little disco nap I thought I ought to organise a trip to see some more of the surrounding area outside of Chiang Mai city. There were several to choose from including trips to the golden triangle and Chiang Rai, trekking with elephants but I settled on learning more of the people of Thailand.  I paid for my trip to see the northern hill tribes of Thailand before heading to the night bizarre. Anne had warned me that the night bizarre was more expensive than the weekend market and she wasn't wrong. There weren't as many food stalls lining the streets but instead a huge food hall offering dishes from all over Southeast Asia. It was all very expensive for what it was so I went for some sushi and some Chiang Mai sausage. A weird combination I know, but it offered me the best value for money amongst what little choice I had. I wondered up and down the streets looking at all the back to back tiny stalls offering clothes, shoes, DVD's and some handicraft. I started my walk back to the hostel to get some sleep before my trip the next day. I wasn't particularly taken with any of the things on the stalls because it was all, as people here say, 'Same same, but different'.

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