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Published: January 21st 2008
Hello all!
finally made it out of the toxic soup they call Bangkok. We're in Chiang Mai now and loving it. We've had two days to relax and shop at the Sunday market here and it was amazing!!! we got a bunch of stuff for our home... where ever that ends up being when we finish traveling.
The train ride up here was cool. We caught it at about 2:30 PM and it traveled over-night up north. We decided on second class sleeper car so we would have a berth to sleep in and boy were we glad. The second class seats were less than airline seats and we were happy we would get a decent night's sleep in a bed. No AC on that class but it wasn't too hot so that didn't matter much with a big window for air. However they were burning brush along the tracks all the way North so the smoke and soot seemed to stick to the sweat and leave me at least feeling quite dirty. We got to Chiang Mai at about 6AM and found our way to our guest house called Nice Place 2 without too much dificultyand promptly showered and slept some more. We awoke a little before noon and went walking and promptly found the market in the process of setting up. We killed some time at lunch and set upon the market frenzy.
The Sunday Market is quite the affair for tourists and locals alike. People come from miles around to sell goods they have made or aquired, to perform music and dance, and to generally take in the carnival atmosphere. We found it hard to resist the BEAUTIFUL handcrafted whares for sale and the delicious, yet often unrecognizeable, tasty treats offered at vendor carts all over the area. An amazing time was had.
Today we set about trying to find the best, also meant cheapest, way to send these things home. As well as the items we no longer have a need for and no longer wish to cary in our packs. Quite the adventure in itself. We looked at DHL and it was going to be more than twice the cost of the goods to send home. Needless to say that kinda freaked us out. Well, as it happened we were sitting outside the DHL office waiting for the attendant to finish another customers packing we saw the Thai international Post Office and went over to check it out. BINGO! We sent it Seamail 2-3 months for a fraction of the cost. What a load off our minds.
So, tomorrow we head off into the mountains of the North on a 3 day 2 night trecking adventure with a group. It looks to be quite fun. Treking to the hill-tribes, Elephant riding, bamboo rafting and seeing some amazing country very near the Burma border.
when we finish with that we will come here back to nice place and stay at least another night and decide what route we will take from there. There are the possibilities of taking a Thai cooking class, another excursion up into the hills to see the long-neck tribe, and possibly going up north to another town in the hills for a couple days called Pai, which is supposedly an amazing, rural setting with enough amenities to be quite comfortable.
So, as the hour is getting late, we bid you all fond dreams, best wishes, and all of our love and thoughts. We miss you dearly, but are having an amazing time!
Love,
John & Justice
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Christian
non-member comment
Wahoo!
Hey John, Looking forward to reading more about your exotic travels, my friend! If you get to Eastern Europe and the Balkans, let me know. I can sort you out there. Also, didn't know you were a Landmark graduate as well! I am too! Looks like we will have much to talk about when we occupy the same time and space again... Best to you both, - Christian the Goob