Just chilling

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The overnight bus to Chiang Mai was very much the same as the others I've taken in Thailand. The only real exception was the fact that it got so cold on the bus that I couldn't sleep. They gave us a thin blanket, but even with two t-shirts and my rain shell on it was just too cold. Personally, I think they set the A/C so cold so that people are completely shell-shocked when they arrive at their destination and they just want to sleep at whatever shitty guesthouse they are taken to. However, I was not going to put up with that. So, when they dropped us off at the guesthouse around 7 in Chiang Mai I politely listened to the salesman's pitch and then took off on foot for the SpicyThai backpacker hostel.

I had no idea what to expect from a hostel in asia, but as I've mentioned, I'm sick of guest houses. Plus, it had an outstanding rating on hostel world so I figured I would give it a shot. It took 40 minutes to walk to the hostel which was on the opposite side of town from where they'd dropped me off. The walk would not have been fun in the midday heat, but it was early still and it was quite pleasant aside from the smog.

I got to the hostel and took their last bed, which I guess was quite fortunate after the long walk. I was immediately impressed by how well-run and clean the place was. Plus, it had a great homey feel to it. The owner, Pong, has travelled around Australia and Europe and it's quite clear he's stayed at his share of good (and bad) hostels. He obviously learned what works and what doesn't, and this place is doing great business as a result.

I plopped myself down in front of the tv to watch the Pats play the Colts with a Welsh dude, who likes football for some reason. I'm not a fan of either team, but the Pats are the lesser of two evils I suppose. Unfortunately, they lost a close game and so I guess I'll be rooting for the Bears in a couple weeks...

After watching the game I met an Aussie girl (Sarah) and the two of us decided to go to the hilltop temple of Doi Suthep. We walked for about 20 minutes to catch a pickup truck from the university that took us the 15kms up the hill to the temple. The views back over Chiang Mai were great on the way up the winding road. When we got to the top, it was evident that this is one of the bigger tourist draws in Chiang Mai and so we had to wade through tons of vendors selling pineapple, strawberries, silk, and everything else under the sun. The temple itself was quite spectacular and it reminded me of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, just on a much smaller scale. There was also a great overlook of the city, but it was a shame that the thick haze made it impossible to see most of it. We spent a couple hours there before catching a pickup back down the mountain.

The driver decided to not drop us off at the university, and despite our protests, he continued all the way into the town center. It actually turned out ok, though, since we were hungry and most of the food is in the center. We grabbed a bite to eat and then went and sat down for a beer at a roadside stand. Afterwards we wandered around the old town looking into a couple temples until it got dark. At that point we went looking for the Night Market, and ended up stopping in a dodgy little Indian restaurant for dinner. The place was empty and it seemed to be attached to some sort of low-budget motel, but we gave it a chance since we were hungry. Other people showed up once we had sat down, which made me feel a little better, but I was fully expecting food poisoning. The food itself was actually pretty good, and it never made me sick, so I guess the restaurant was A-ok.

After eating we headed to the night market, stopping at 7-11 on the way to get some Beer Chang. As we browsed through the market, vendors kept making comments about our open beers -- "You drinking water, mister?" "You buy Beer Chang t-shirt" etc. I was beginning to wonder why the beer was drawing so much attention when a vendor finally stopped us and said that it was illegal to drink in the market. Now, I'm a bit skeptical about that law because the market is on the sidewalk and it's open air. It's certainly not illegal to drink on the sidewalk normally, so I think it's a bunch of bs. Either way, we didn't get caught so it wasn't a big deal. I didn't end up buying anything at the market, although there were tons of tempting dvd's.

We caught a pickup back to the hostel and hung out a bit before Sarah went to bed. I ended up sitting downstairs with a bunch of Aussies watching Casino Royale until the wee hours.

The next morning Sarah left for a trek and aside from going to the supermarket, I spent the entire day watching season 6 of the Sopranos. The hostel is so nice, you don't even feel like leaving it! Or maybe it's the huge pile of pirated dvd's. That evening, a bunch of us sat around watching movies and drinking. At one point during the movie, an Aussie girl came back to the hostel in tears. I was worried that she had been mugged, but it turns out that she witnessed a guy fall off the back of a moto and get run over. Not a pleasant sight, I'm sure.

The next day was pretty similar to the previous one. We finished season 6 of the Sopranos and then a bunch of us sat around watching Talledega Nights, which is a hilarious film. Will Ferrel is a genius. After the movie I got this weird craving for a grilled cheese sandwich, so I headed to 7-11 to find some cheese. They had cheddar singles, and so I grabbed a package along with some bread. The hostel kitchen didn't have a skillet so I had to improvise and I ended up cooking the sandwich in a wok! Despite the curved surface, it turned out great and it was just what I was looking for. It's weird the food that you take for granted at home, but just cannot find most of the time when you're travelling. Stuff like bagels, grilled cheese, soda other than coke/diet coke/sprite, peanut butter, even bread sometimes in asia. So, when I do get the chance to eat something like that I pounce on it.

In the evening Sarah came back from her trek and we grabbed a bite to eat before she took off for the bus station. After she left, a few of us from the hostel went out for some beers. We went to a rather expensive bar first and only ended up having one beer there. They did have a good cover band, though. Then we moved down the street to what turned out to be an upscale club. The guy at the door just waved us right through, though. It's funny that they often do that for foreigners. We were definitely the only people in the place wearing shorts and t-shirts! We hung out there for a couple hours before the Welsh dude and I headed back to the hostel to get some sleep.

The next day was a busy one. Apart from a movie or two in the morning, I had to go get passport photos so I'd be able to get my Cambodian visa on arrival. Once i picked those up I headed back to the hostel to get some stuff to mail home. Pong told me the post office would be closed (at like 330) before I got there, and so I would need to go to the one at the airport to get stuff sent. I had two choices on how to get there -- a cab for like $3.50 each way, or the city bus for 50 cents. It was an easy decision and the ride there was pretty painless on a half-empty bus. I got my stuff mailed in about 10 minutes (once I actually found the post office) and then went back out to the curb to wait for the return bus. There is no specific stop at the airport, you just kind of watch for it and then flag it down. Even at the marked stop on the way to the airport I had to flag the thing down, probably because they just assumed that I was standing on the curb and not actually trying to catch the bus. It makes sense since I didn't see any other foreigners onboard. I ended up waiting for over an hour before the bus finally showed up and it was packed with schoolchildren. I stood for maybe 10 minutes before a seat opened up. I must have been smelly or something, because as soon as another free seat opened up, the person to the right of me moved. The person to the left did the same thing about 5 minutes later. Oh well, more space for me!

I got back to the hostel and hung out for a bit before catching a pickup to the bus station. I was determined to try the government-run buses for once and so I booked a 1st class ticket for about 15 bucks. The VIP price was absurd, and 2nd class is pretty rough on an overnight. I'll continue this in the next entry, so stay tuned for Siem Reap, Cambodia.

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Photos

Not so correct
What were they thinking?

Me
Inside the temple. Yes, I know, shorts are bad...They had no pants for me, though.

Little elephant
They were trying to get tourists to buy sugarcane for this little elephant. It was a really horrible sight, it looked so miserable.

Comments

[Jessica]

trippin' out in Asia
sounds like you're still havin quite a time over there!! wish I could do it too... traveling I mean... I like it... but have never ventured so far out as you have... hell, I haven't made it east of europe (the western half!!)

[Laxmikant Vyas]

Finally Asia
Hey Andrew! How is it going so far!! so over a month in Asia now, how are you liking it? Not much at my end, everything same as before. Which all countries are you planning to go about in Asia, elsewhere? All the best, laxmikant

[where to]

I'm doing great. Sorry to hear that work is "same same"! The blog is a bit behind, per usual, and I'm in Vietnam right now having spent about 1.5 weeks in Cambodia. I plan to spend the rest of the month in Vietnam and then cross into China around the first of March. From there, it's anyone's guess, but Australia is in the not too distant future.

[Peter in VA]

Andrew's gone asia
Vietnam! In my day when Ho Chi Minh City was Siagon, that was a place no one wanted to be (except Republicans, but they wanted everyone else but them to be there--ask all those chickenhawks like Quayle, Cheney, Dubya, etc.). Where to next? China? Your Grandad was there with the 1st Marine Division when Beijing was Peking. How the world has changed once armed intervention proves not to work. You're missing some cold weather here in the states!