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Published: July 29th 2012
After another quick overnight transit back in Bangkok, I finally made my much-awaited return to Northern Thailand. I had of course been here just two weeks before, in Chiang Rai, as part of the plan crossing the border at Mae Sai from Myanmar, but I zoomed straight down to Bangkok to catch my grandmother who was there in transit. So after a 15h overnight A/C train ride (much, much more comfortable than the extremely *memorable* ride from Mandalay to Katha in Myanmar I must add), I was finally back in the North, in the old Lanna Kingdom and ancient capital of Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai was certainly very much as I'd expected -- charming, quieter, and much more laid-back than crazy Bangkok. The Old City in the centre was built within a square fort, enclosed by crumbling walls and a moat, and reminded me a lot of Mandalay. Only low-rise buildings within the Old City, but even outside one would see only the odd skyscraper. I could see why people would fall in love with the place, as it exudes all the Thai charm with less of the hassle (traffic, pollution, touts, crowds etc). Despite being an ancient city of
rich history, the seemingly largely-young population of university students and travellers gives the place a youthful vibe. Even the sleazy undercurrent ubiquitous to all large Thai cities seemed less blatant here, or at least certainly compared to the likes of Bangkok and Pattaya.
I knew I would be spending about a week in the North before returning to Bangkok, and originally planned to check out some of the other northern town/ cities that I'd read and heard about, in particular Pai and Mae Hong Son. But I felt so comfortable in Chiang Mai that I ended up just spending all my time there! Such behaviour is certainly a contrast to my earlier travelling habits, which would have seen me press on to the other cities. But I guess my attitude towards travel has evolved somewhat, and I'm no longer hell-bent on seeing as much as I can in as little time as possible. Mae Hong Son and Pai can wait till next time. Anyway, I certainly do hope I'll be back in Northern Thailand again in the not-too-distant future!
For those who follow my blog regularly, take note that I'll be "based" in Bangkok for the next several
weeks for so, as I've signed up for a class. As such, I won't be blogging the mundane details, though of course if I come across anything of particular interest, I'll put it up. I will however be making some trips out of Bangkok over the weekends, the details of which I hope will be meaningful enough to publish!
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