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We woke up on the overnight train after 12 hours of travel not feeling especially rested, but not feeling all that terrible. It was already 8am or so, which meant we only had a couple of hours before we would reach the Chiang Mai train station. The entire train was about 14 hours, but thankfully we were able to sleep through most of the rocky ride.
The scenery was spectacular. Some of the greenest mountains I've ever seen with rice fields scattered throughout, ponds filled with water lilies, and forests of green bamboo.
We pulled up to the train station and hopped off with all our fellow 40+ backpacker roommates. Bombarded by taxi and tuk tuk drivers who all wanting to take us to our destination, we hopped into an open air type tuk tuk with a British girl who currently lives in Austrailia, and a guy from San Francisco ! Destination: Green Tiger Vegetarian Hostel. Driving through the city was much different than Bangkok. It didn't have smog-filled air, or as many shanti like buildings. There were canals throughout, and many trees to add to the scenery of this already beautiful city.
We
pulled up to Green Tiger which is tucked away from the main hustle & bustle of the city, down a narrow lane amidst residential houses. It doesn't look like much, but when you walk in you're greeted by a very tropical indoor/outdoor setting with a very nice pool. We hadn't eaten since...lunch really, the day before, so we were quite famished. After settling into our room we wandered downstairs to the restaurant area and had some of the best food we've eaten yet!
The nice Swiss man who owns the boutique hotel gave us some pointers on where to go and what to see. We decided to head to the Warorot market where all the locals shop, to get the true Chiang Mai experience. The plan was then to walk up one of the main streets to the more touristy area.
We walked, we wandered, asked for directions a few times and eventually found ourselves in a very large indoor/outdoor market with stalls everywhere selling everything from mystery meat to Crocs. The smells were in full force, and after a while wandering, realizing we were definitely the only tourists, we headed up the street away from it all.
We stumbled upon a hidden market on the side of the river that was full of stall after stall of beautifully woven crafts -- pillow cases, bags, tapestries lined each and every stall. We weren't sure if they were real and authentic, since every vendor seemed to be selling the same thing. They were beautiful ! Later at the hotel we asked Daniel, the owner, and he said that local tribes in the mountains make these and send them down to be sold in Chaing Mai city -- I guess they were authentic after all!
After some shopping we wandered up what we suspected was the right street. The map we were going off of was very confusing and didn't seem all that correct. Eventually we found some more tourists and knew we were in the right area. The streets seemed empty still! It was the middle of the day, and scorching hot, but it still seems like the streets would be a little more bustling than they were !
We dropped by a massage spot to cool off in the air-conditioning and get our 2nd Thai massage. We each asked for a head,
neck and shoulders massage...little did we know it would basically be a full body ! It was a much different massage than our first...they really dig in there with their elbows to work out your knots, and it was pretty painful at times !
After our not-so-relaxing massage we wandered to a few temples...Wat Jedee Luang which was formally a massive pagoda and now looks more like ruins because of a huge earthquake in 1545. Next was Wat Chiang Mun and Wat Pra Sinngh, the main temple located in the center of the city. We didnt' wear our "temple wear" today so just walked around the grounds of each, but didn't enter into the temple itself.
At Wat Pra Singh, the monetary surrounds the temple, and one monk in particular made our day. He was just sitting in a chair watching passerby's, and when he saw us he gave us the most genuine bow I've seen thus far. It just felt like a very special moment to be there and to see an older monk say his hello!
Even at all thse temples, which are the main ones in the city,
it felt quite empty! Our whole trip has felt this way ! It's kind of the story of our lives on this trip...
When we got back to the green tiger we took a dip in the pool to cool off our very hot & sweaty bodies. We grabbed a beer and took it to the roof top bar area in hopes of finding people to be friends with...Alas, even the rooftop bar with amazing city views was empty !
We hit the streets once again to grab dinner and find a bar that is showing the USA vs. Germany World Cup game.
The streets were empty yet again! The same could be said for the restaurants and bars. We at dinner at a place that had at least a few tables filled, then headed to an Irish pub next door to watch the game. Lots of German fans but very few Americans! This has been the case everywhere...We haven't met very many Americans anywhere, surprisingly. By the end of the game the bar was packed, and as we left the streets were a little more lively !
Tomorrow, off to Spicy
Villas !
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