In Which We Learn That A Lot of Travel Isn't Necessarily A Good Thing

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Hello! Sorry it's taken so long to write. As I'm sure you can imagine, quite a lot has occurred in the days since I last wrote. For one thing, we made our way back to overcrowded, smelly, backpacker-saturated Bangkok, where we styed for one night, before our overnight triain to Chiang Mai. I would write more about Bangkok, but I feel nauseated just thinking about Khao San Road (where all the backpackers congregate, and where there is very cheap accommodation - mainly a stuffy, windowless room, right nexct to a bar that is open all night, and plays blaring music, 24 hours a day- quite an accomplishment). So... let us focus on more uplifting things... like the fact Aleko bought a rather magnificent "Giraffes Against Ceiling Fans" T-shirt, I bought a pretty white dress, and we managed to claim two berths on the overnight train to Chiang Mai.

Having traveled overnight on trains accross both China and India, I thought that tourist-friendly Thailand would far outdo these two rivals, with their transport, and hospitality. Especially as we had the snooty air-conditioned carriage!

Hours later, holding on for dear life, while the caboose (which was our home for the night) swung from side to side... sometimes almost toppling over (or so I was lead to believe, as we were strapped in our berths... something I'd never experience before), while the driver, obviously a novice, who seemed to enjoy the brake pedal a bit too much - using it with force, every so often, just in case we forgot who was in charge (we would remember, after being flung across the carriage); holding our stomachs in hunger (the first instance of being on a train where I'd experienced no dining carriage or indeed person with trolley offering food), well... the point is, hours later, we began to regret our decision not to fly. Mind you, flying was double the cost, and this did save a night on accommodation. Still... next time, we will make sure we get a central carriage, lower bunks (which are wider), and probably will pop a vallium.

And onto Chiang Mai...

*brief side note, to tell you that this computer is really slow, and will display the text about 30 seconds after I've typed it, which is making this task somewhat laborious.

Chiang Mai has a ton of coffee shops, great restaurants, and is surrounded by large green hills. Hills we have not been able to explore, as of yet. I'm not entirely sure what we have been doing the past few days, other than aimlessly exploring the streets (partially due to any tourist attractions being ridiculously expensive). However! Last night we booked tickets at the Cultural Center, for a dinner and dance (natives doing the dancing, not ourselves, alas), to experience some ethnic pride, and learn a bit about their history.

Learnt: * Thais invented fried chicken, and pork cracklings.
* It is not compulsory for instruments to be in tune, or indeed in time with each other.
* the majority of the ethnic dancing, consisted of women wearing an assortment of large objects on their heads, walking slowly around, swinging their arms and legs, with little enthusiasm... also not in time with each other.

Having said that, we did have fun (in a kind of "am I meant to be clapping this?!" kind of way). For the first half, we were seated on the floor, a circular round table placed between us, with a selection of foods, which they would top up, every time we finished. Owing to the fact the majority were fried, and we were both gluttons... I am feeling somewhat sick today. We drank overpriced water and beer, and watched the beautiful, graceful Thai girls, perform the "Fingernail" Dance (google it!), among other delights. The basic outline of the dances were 8 beautiful Thai girls, wearing a variety of bright costumes, walking slowly and doing graceful arm movements. Indeed, they invited random people to get up and join in, and the end of the first half... myself and Aleko included (Aleko declined). I felt like an oversized ostriche among the dainty princesses.

Time for part two! we were ushered into a barn, where actual... ACTUAL hill tribe people, performed a series of dances/unenthusiastic walks around. OK, Ok... I'll give it to them - there were a couple of dances performed by men, that were impressive. In one, the man was doing all kinds of acrobatics with swords, and slapping his thigh and foot, in a very Greek-like fashion (I watched Aleko's face closely, to see how it compared). There was also a dance with drums and fire, that was fantastic. The rest seemed to be filler, although I did enjoy the little hill tribe kiddies, dancing a dance that sonsisted mainly of them slapping each other, and then giggling uncontrollably.

All in all... enjoyable, but hardly ballet. It did give you an insight to the crazy clothes they wear... and I will hand it to the men - they were impressive, and the women, graceful... it was mainly the middle-aged women that looked p*ssed off to be there, like they'd rather be watching Desperate Housewives, and eating Mc Donalds.

Today... we are tired, and contemplating obtaining our Indian visa from the consulate here in Chiang Mai. This may prove difficult, though, as it appears most Tuk-Tuk or taxi drivers have absolutely no knowledge of where anything is in the city. Not helpful. Even with an address. Clearly they need to bring in something similar to "The Knowlege".

So far, Thailand is OK, but it doesn't overly excite me. It's beautiful, yes, but where India has a lot of fantastic architecture from the Raj era, not to mention history... Thailand is just mainly about the natural beauty.... which is fine, if you can cough up the dollars for all these tours, but not so fine if you're on a budget. Having said that, I believe the islands in the far south may be different. I just wasn't to enthralled at the idea of Full Moon parties.

Other than that, all is well. Aleko has been honing his wilderness skills, by throwing knives, talking to dogs, doing impressions of sloths, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Indians. It is heartening to realize that getting married doesn't necessarily determine your ability to grow up. We hve been watching Asian TV, at our guesthouse - enjoying the innocent nature of the Thai music videos, and making plans to throw dinner parties and learn how to cook (preferably not in that order), after watching the Asian food network channel.

Sometime this week, we plan to have formal interviews with the Aston school, in China. We are also enrolling Aleko onto an online TESOL course, which is mandatory for a visa, and have been researching cities in China that we would be interested in living in.

Well, I hope this reaches you all well, and I hope not to leave it so long, next time. Much love to you all!

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